Tales of x Mega Man X
by Nu Mou Sage
Summary: Following the events of Project X Zone, the worlds of the Tales and Mega Man X series collide as a new unknown power is at work, causing their realities to affect one another. Multiple Tales worlds will be involved in due time.
1. Our Roads Clash Again

Author's Note: Hey all, it's Nu Mou Sage, reemerging in the fan fiction circle after years of silence. I'm sorry to say this isn't my Digimon x Code Lyoko story _Tale of Two Computerized Worlds_. Digimon has lost some of its luster after the last few seasons and feels less impressive than it did in its golden days. In addition, I have not finished watching Code Lyoko, which I intend to complete at some point, though I'm not sure when or how exactly. I've moved on to newer ideas and this one is largely inspired from the recent and awesome _Project X Zone_, a fantastic crossover RPG that is just oozing with fanservice. You'll need to have some familiarity with that game's story and also have knowledge when it comes to the _Tales of_ and _Mega Man X_ games if you want to read this. Without further ado, I introduce the first chapter of _Tales of_ _x Mega Man X_ (that reads _Tales of Cross Mega Man X_ in case you were wondering).

Prologue I: "Our Roads Clash Again"

**Terca Lumireis, the world of **_**Tales of Vesperia**_**, in the Erealumen Crystallands...**

"Sir, we've discovered something!" A knight yelled to his commanding officer as the survey team continued to unearth their strange discovery.

"What have you located?"

"I thought it was a blastia at first glance, but looking at it again, it's not like any blastia I've ever seen before."

The commanding officer climbed down into the excavation pit and took note of the object for himself. Examining it, the item indeed resembled no blastia he had ever seen the likes of before. It was not any make of Hermes model nor it was one that could conveniently fit in one's pocket. Satisfied with his present understanding of it, he turned to another of the knights.

"Inform Captain Scifo at once! Tell him to bring Rita Mordio with him."

"Sir!" The knight saluted before heading off. The officer looked back at it and wondered what indeed it was that his team had found.

Within the hour, Captain Flynn Scifo of the Imperial Knights and Rita of Brave Vesperia arrived at the survey spot in the Erealumen Crystallands at the behest of the survey team.

"Captain, Miss Mordio. Knight Officer Joshua Krim, at your service." The commanding officer saluted to them.

"What did you need us to look at? Your messenger claimed the object in question is not a blastia in any way shape or form." Flynn said with his usual friendly voice.

"Yes Captain. It is...difficult to describe. It resembles one of the crystals here in the cavern, but it's also different in a number of ways. We were hoping Miss Mordio would give us her opinion on the object."

"Is that all right with you, Rita?" The blonde-haired knight captain turned to the fifteen year old genius mage of Aspio.

"Yeah sure, I don't have any other projects I'm currently working on at the moment anyway. I don't mind having a look at it." Her tone was that of one who was nonplussed and possibly bored. Following the events of the Adephagos being defeated, she had been working day and night on various smaller projects. Of course, given her dedication to such things, she had finished them with little difficulty and needed something new to stimulate her intellect.

"Very well, this way." He guided the two of them to the excavation pit, and after they had all climbed down into its depths, he showed them the mysterious object. By that time, the team had been able to clear away more of the dirt and rocks surrounding the object, leaving a slightly more clear view to observers.

For a full two minutes, Flynn and Rita were in absolute awe of it. The large object was indeed like nothing they had ever laid eyes on. While it certainly outwardly resembled one of the cavern's lavender-blue crystals, it also had features not like anything seen before. Unlike the rest of the structures, the object was almost like a coffin in its shape and form. Encased within the crystal coffin itself was a round, spherical metallic device. Its top hemisphere was midnight blue while its lower hemisphere was white, and its center was dominated by a red "eye" where its equator would be if the object was a globe, but it wasn't like any model of their planet Flynn and Rita had ever seen before. The eye looked to be some sort of glass orb with a strange reflection that defied the basic rules of lighting.

"Just _what_ is this?" Rita said, completely and utterly astonished for the umpteenth time in her life. In the past, things like witnessing Estelle's mystic arte for the first time or the descent of Adephagos made her drop her jaw. This was another shocker to add to her list of surprises.

"For some reason, something about its design seems oddly familiar to me. Where have I seen it?" Flynn mused aloud as he put his hand to his chin in thought. He couldn't shake the feeling he had seen such a device before from somewhere.

"You seriously have seen something like this before?" Rita turned to him and made her staple incredulous face, the expression she usually put on when she was having a great deal of trouble believing a person.

"Yes, but I can't remember from where." Flynn kept pondering and still couldn't come up with an answer.

"It's not like any of the machines in Ghasfarost and its not like anything in Tarqaron either. It seems...ahead of even those in its design." The genius mage of Aspio was honestly stumped. She couldn't even begin to guess what the object was, let alone what it was intended for. She wanted to immediately start examining it and figuring out just what it was exactly the survey team had found.

"The object seems to be quite large and, judging from its indent, heavy too. It would be difficult to move out of the cavern without some kind of additional manpower. Do we have any troops in reserve at the castle, Captain?"

"I've sent out several platoons on reconnaissance missions. Taking it back to Zaphias would be easy with Ba'ul's help, but getting it out of the cavern is a different story."

"Perhaps we could..." Before Joshua Krim could finish his suggestion, Rita let out a startled cry and alerted everyone's attention to her.

"Rita, what happened?" Flynn asked as he went to her side.

"I don't know! I just bent down to get a closer look at it and it started reacting. I didn't touch it or anything!" She exclaimed.

The spherical object in the coffin-like crystal began emitting a strange low humming sound, which quickly amplified to a whirring like that of a windmill's blades spinning at two hundred miles per hour. The glass eye on the center of the sphere seemed to be looking at the two of them, as if it were alive. In just that instant, white light began to emanate from the crystal itself, slowly growing in brightness until it was absolutely blinding to everyone in the cavern.

"What's it doing?!" One of the knights exclaimed. The light grew so gigantic in width that it encompassed the cavern and its occupants. When the grand illumination cleared, everyone was either flat on their back or collapsed to their knees, groaning from the shock. That is, everyone except for those missing.

"Captain Scifo! Miss Mordio! Where are they?" Joshua yelled. "Captain! Miss Mordio!" Turning around, he looked frantically for them...and no trace of them could be found. They had vanished completely.

**Earth, the year 21XX, Abel City...**

Alia's computer console suddenly sparked to life as it detected a large energy reading in the Energen Mines where Crystal Snail had once caused trouble back during the second Maverick uprising. Layer and Pallette took notice of the reading as well and were equally as surprised as their colleague.

"What is this? A sudden spike of power in the Energen Mine? How can that be? And this reading, it's too high for any normal deposit of crystals." Alia said as she quickly analyzed the signal.

"What I find strange is why there's any activity there at all. That place was shut down after X defeated Crystal Snail, so why are we suddenly picking up a huge reading like this? It's completely ridiculous that energen could produce numbers in this range." Layer said in her usual calm and cool tone.

"I remember Dr. Cain saying the energen that Tunnel Rhino had been digging up during the Doppler Maverick incident could power a city for an entire year. The energy in this reading could make the whole planet run for ten years without rest!" Pallette exclaimed.

"We should send someone to check it out. This may not have anything to do with any known current problems, but maybe someone has figured out how to harness energen to even more insane levels than Doppler had." Alia remarked.

"And this someone may not have the best intentions in mind for it." Layer said, as she put out an APB to all Maverick Hunters in the vicinity of the mining area.

"Maverick Hunter Base, this is X. I'm heading to the area now with Zero. This has me worried." The reply came in half a minute as the familiar voice of the legendary blue armored hero came in loud and clear over the channel. The navigators looked to each other, knowing this particular incident was personal for him. The confrontation with Crystal Snail was very painful for him, in a number of ways.

"Understood. Just in case, we'll send backup to your location. We currently haven't identified any possible causes for this strange upsurge of energy." Alia responded.

"Affirmative." Zero, the legendary S-rank Maverick Hunter, said as the communication ended.

**Energen Crystal Mine...**

Parking their Ride Chasers just outside the entrance, the two Maverick Hunters entered the closed off area with their scanners on full alert. X had pondered just what, or even who, could trigger such a massive scale of energy. The energen within the place itself could only produce energy that was standard operation capacity; there was no possible way for it to be as powerful as Pallette described. As he and Zero wandered further in past the numerous crystallized walls and structures around them, he couldn't help but think back to that unfortunate battle with Crystal Snail. It was a battle that never left his memory, for it was one of many personal scars he carried in his heart.

The snail-based Reploid was a tormented soul, bitter about his own physical appearance, thinking he was nothing but an ugly creature. Of particular note during that incident, Snail was infatuated with the Magna Quartz, a small spherical machine encased in a massive energen quartz crystal. He caressed and worshipped it, calling it the very symbol of eternal beauty, and thought that even an "ugly thing" such as himself could one day achieve such radiance. When X had destroyed Magna Quartz due to its hostile actions, Crystal Snail was beside himself with anguish and suffering. He had intended to utterly annihilate X, to make him understand the agony he felt when he lost his precious friend. The Maverick Hunter did understand, but he was unable to tell Snail due to having been frozen by his opponent's Crystal Hunter, a devious weapon that can both literally freeze a target as well as cause an entire area's functional activity to slow down to, appropriately enough, a snail's pace.

"We've got company." Zero said calmly, snapping X back to the present. There was no time for him to reminisce now. Pointing his X-Buster at a number of enemies, he knew he had to fight once again.

"There are more than I thought there'd be." X muttered. The number of enemies was indeed a bit excessive, numbering to over fifty in just the one room they were in currently. This seemed like it could very well be a case of a Maverick calling the shots. Within seconds, energy shots were exchanged between both sides, resulting in immediate deaths on the enemy side. As robots went down, more began scrambling into the room from further in, replacing their fallen comrades.

"Damn, this is endless! We need to cut off all of this hydra's heads now!" Zero swore. As his attention was focused on the battle in front of him, he did not have time to react to the sudden slashing strike from behind. The S-rank Maverick Hunter let out a pained grunt as X turned to aim his Buster at a new threat...and was taken aback at the sight of the newcomer.

"Speaking of hydras..." X said in a low voice that betrayed his poker face. "You're Amblygonite Hydra, from the 6th Naval Unit!" Towering massively over the Maverick Hunter was a Reploid based on the mythical hydra of Greek myth. His body was massive in size to accommodate his many heads.

"Indeed we are, Maverick Hunter X!" The powerful seven-headed Reploid declared sibilantly. "So have you come to put an end to our Energen mining? What's the problem?" His voice was laced with both venom and sarcasm as each of his various heads snapped in anger at X.

"Yeah, what's the problem?!" This was echoed by Hydra's second head, who seemed tense and high strung.

"Mining operation? Weren't you discharged from the naval unit and put on probation? What are you doing here, Hydra?!"

"We were, but we got bored with our permanent 'shore leave', so we did some research in our spare time and figured if we wanted to build a powerful navy of our own, we'd need a ton of energy...and what better place than Energen central!" The third head rasped almost happily.

"But if you damn Maverick Hunters get in the way, there's no way in hell we'll be able to finish our little project!" This from the fourth head, who seemed quite angry.

"So it's time for you two to go!" The fifth head screamed out insanely as it managed to wrap itself around X and hoist him up.

"Maybe we can use their bodies for the ship's bow! What do you think, Seven?"

"I don't care Six, let's just suck out their energy first and then annihilate them." The seventh head was surprisingly the only calm, rational one, but had no more love for the Maverick Hunters than his brethren did. He just preferred to get things done without too much fanfare.

When the enemy Reploid's seven heads' numerous and deadly fangs were about to sink deeply into X, something quickly shot along the ground toward him. Zero caught sight of it with his advanced optics for barely half a second; it was a blue-colored vacuum wave that furiously shredded the rocky floor behind it as it collided into Amblygonite's leg and knocked him aside, freeing X from his grip.

"That technique. Wasn't that..." Zero steadied himself with his Z-Saber.

"Demon Fang!" A voice shouted as another wave came shooting along, causing many of the enemy units to dodge out of its way to avoid getting hit. One lone human came running into the room from the opening all the hostiles had been using to swarm in. He was someone the Maverick Hunters were quite familiar with; their memories of their multidimensional journey had not left their minds.

"X, Zero, are you two okay?" The familiar face cropped with blonde hair said as he stood confidently with them, sword drawn and shield readied.

_Flynn Scifo, of the Imperial Knights?!_ X said to himself, wondering just what was going on.

"Heh, is it the Portalstone again?" Zero asked to no one in particular as he slowly rose to his feet.

**To be continued...**

*Well everyone, hope you've enjoyed the first prologue so far. Just to note a few things:

_*Tales of Vesperia_ is not the only Tales game I plan to draw characters from, but they will be first on the list due to some of the cast being involved in _Project X Zone_.

*Amblygonite Hydra is named for amblygonite, a mineral that is a mix of sodium and lithium; the play on words here is that lithium carbonate is used in treating manic depression and bipolar disorders, which ties in with Hydra's heads and their varying personalities.

*Hydra speaks in a distinct first person style, kind of like a hive mind similar to Venom due to his numerous heads being part of one body.

*The 6th Naval Unit is the same unit Bubble Crab and Wheel Gator were in back in _Mega Man X2._


	2. One Who Understands Another

Author's Note: Whew, I have to say, this took longer to finish due to a number of complications that have been going on throughout February. I don't want to make too many of these prologues, but I do need to set up the story in various places before things start coming together, so expect a couple more in the meantime. Please enjoy.

Prologue II: "One Who Understands Another"

**Unknown area...**

It was hard to say just where she was at the moment. Rita Mordio, the genius mage of Aspio, was with Flynn before she had found herself engulfed in that weird light from the crystal coffin-like object the Imperial Knights had discovered. She still wasn't sure what it had been exactly, but her primary concern was where she was transported. Rita had awakened, head throbbing, in a rainbow-colored void of some kind. She hadn't the faintest idea where it was or what the void was even supposed to be, but the numerous iridescent colors made her eyes spin. On top of that, she could walk as if she had been on solid ground, despite it looked like she was in midair. It was all too much to take in.

At least she hadn't come alone, as the crystal coffin object had not only brought her to the strange new location, but also came with her. Or rather, perhaps it came here and dragged her along with it. It was hard to say...

_But wouldn't that make it alive somehow?_ _That metal sphere might be a living creature of some kind that only looks like a machine._ Rita mused, trying to come up with some kind of working hypothesis. It always bothered her when she couldn't make heads or tails of new discoveries. Still, this "new discovery" was responsible for hurtling her to some weird place and separating her from Flynn all together. She wasn't sure what she should do to get out of her predicament. _I wonder, maybe if I hit this thing with a spell arte_, _it could send me back. Ugh, stupid thing, just where in the heck did you send me anyway?!_

Rita then turned to look angrily at the object and starting preparing magic, which came as a shock to her initially when she tested it out earlier upon waking in the mysterious void. Somehow her blastia was functioning here, something that shouldn't be at all possible, since defeating the Adephagos back in her world required sacrificing the energy in all of Terca Lumireis's blastia in order to annihilate it. Whether it might have had something to do with either being in contact with the crystal coffin or being in the void didn't concern her, she just wanted to go back home. She could think about it later, in the comfort of familiar surroundings.

"Damage Magna Quartz in any way, and I will make you pay for it," a voice suddenly spoke. Rita got spooked and stopped her incantation.

"Who's there?!" She demanded, looking around, trying to find the source of the voice. All she could see in any direction was void, void and more void. Looking at all the numerous colors in such rapid swerves was bringing on a wave of nausea she didn't need. "Damn it, who are you?!" Rita screamed.

"I am..." Swirling traces of blue energy began forming near Magna Quartz and took the form of something humanoid, but the silhouette quickly adopted an unusual shape. It became roundish in the back, like some sort of shell, and the head grew two small stalks pointing upward. "...Crystal Snail."

"What the..." Rita now had another shock to add to her expanding list.

**Energen Crystal Mine...**

Rita wasn't the only one getting an eyeful of surprises today. It was enough that the Hunters were dealing with a foe who was originally part of the 6th Naval Unit, but now they had unexpected help from a friend among a very large group whom they had traveled with across numerous worlds and dimensions previously.

"I don't believe it. Flynn, what are you doing here?" X was flabbergasted.

"Maybe we should deal with these foes first before we start chatting!" The dutiful knight declared as he slashed his sword through a couple of enemy Reploids who were trying to attack him.

"What's this? You Hunters have help...from a human?! Haha, that's rich!" Amblygonite Hydra's first head laughed rather insanely at the very notion.

"Hmph. You idiot," Zero said, as he regained his stance after having been hit by Hydra's surprise attack from earlier, "I'd advise you not to underestimate this particular human."

"What?" The second head, Two, got a good look at Flynn, wondering just what the big deal was with him. "Feh, I don't see what's so special about him."

"That's your problem. You're only seeing. He's one of many humans trained in powerful fighting styles and we've witnessed his abilities firsthand. He can rip Mavericks apart just as well as any Hunter can. You'd do well to remember that." Zero pointed his Z-Saber at the Maverick with his usual poker face. X realized that his good friend and partner was trying to shift the fight in their favor with a combination of psychological tactics and outright intimidation. He decided to follow up with his own clever words.

"Yes Hydra, Zero isn't lying. He knocked you and your troops aside easily. Do you really think he can't handle you if he's capable of doing that in just one strike?" The Maverick Hunter said, hoping this would buy enough time until the backup arrived. Hydra, surprisingly, was humbled by the facts being given and did recall feeling an intense bit of force from the vacuum wave that interrupted him. Of course, like any Maverick prone to violence, he didn't want to accept the fact a human was strong enough to do such a thing, much less a human doing such a thing at all.

"Damn it, it doesn't matter! If you want to die alongside the Hunters so badly, then so be it! I'll be happy to send you to your death!" Hydra's heads turned to look at Flynn and hiss monstrously at the Imperial Knight. In response, the blonde-haired swordsman leapt over to X and Zero's position and readied himself.

"You won't have to worry about any further reinforcements. I took care of the problem once I realized that they were heading here from the other room." Flynn said to them as he began chanting First Aid to heal the injured Reploids.

"Other room? I see, so he was getting backup from a different section. This cave isn't as sealed up as we believed, X." Zero mused as the light of Flynn's arte recovered the damaged area.

"Yeah..." X thought back to the past again. All that kept surfacing in his mind was images of Crystal Snail's death, playing over and over again like some horrid torture video. He had been terrified of dying then, and out of fear he completely annihilated his opponent when he was just trying to understand him.

_If only it could have been different. If only I could have..._

"X, be careful!" Flynn's voice alerted him to Hydra's approach.

_Damn, I can't afford to be distracted right now!_

At that moment, a standoff between the four combatants in the cavern was inevitable. Buster, beam saber and knight sword drawn on one side, seven snapping and hissing heads on the other. In one fluid movement, they clashed too quickly for any observer to see.

**Unknown area...**

The initial shock of Crystal Snail's appearance had passed Rita's mind quickly enough. She'd seen plenty of unusual beings in her own world. Still, she had never seen anything or anyone quite like him. She recalled Yuri, Estelle and Flynn mention the large group of people they had traveled with when they had suddenly vanished from Halure one day out of the blue. There were two among that team who were called Reploids, and they were people built to look like humans, but were made of metal. Rita found that hard to believe at first back then. However, looking upon Crystal Snail, her doubts were washing away rather quickly.

Crystal Snail looked at the human girl who had dared to get it into her head to attack Magna Quartz. He kept himself close to his precious friend, caressing it as he had once before when he was "alive". Though he was elated to finally be with Magna Quartz somewhere they would never be bothered, he kept wary of Rita, wondering how she had even ended up here. He was also surprised someone else would even manage to find their "secret world" like this. What could have happened?

"Um, excuse me, Crystal Snail? May I ask you something?" Rita chimed in.

"What is it?" He remained wary of her.

"I wasn't trying to hurt Magna Quartz. I was just...frustrated at my situation. I don't know where I am right now and how to get back. You see, it was because of that crystal that I ended up here in the first place from my world." She explained. Her words surprised Snail; he hadn't considered that Quartz could be responsible, especially when he recalled his precious friend vanished some time ago and suddenly returned. He had assumed that his crystalline companion had been sent to a random location nearby by the void's power, not to another world of all places.

"So you're from another realm too? Magna Quartz and I are not originally from here either. Tell me then, who are you and what world do you hail from? Is it Earth?"

"I'm Rita Mordio, and I'm not from Earth. I come from a world called Terca Lumireis. Magna Quartz was the one who brought me here. You see, it was found in a cavern in my world that consists entirely of similar-looking crystals. A friend of mine and I were called in to investigate it, but just as we were simply standing around making inquiries and theories, a huge flash of light erupted from the crystal...and I found myself here afterward."

Crystal Snail took some time to soak up Rita's story and was quite shocked that his dear beautiful Quartz could even do such a thing. He had no idea his friend had that level of power. The mollusk Reploid mulled it over for a while and could tell the girl was not hostile nor was she trying to hurt Magna Quartz. He realized that his wariness was a product of the paranoia he felt when he felt himself to be nothing more than an ugly creature back on Earth.

"Actually, I...knew what it's like not to have anyone else. I used to keep myself locked away in my house with only my blastia. I didn't trust others either, because they misused blastia and hurt them to make things work for them." Rita said, almost with no thought as to why she was telling this newfound stranger anything about her personal life. Her words surprised Snail, who listened carefully. "One day, a certain person wanted to be my friend and everything changed. She was genuinely the first person to ever care about what I thought or how I felt. Another human being actually cared about me and that's when my life changed. I journeyed with her and her friends, and she helped me realize that shutting myself away wasn't the the best use of my time. I met all kinds of kooks and weirdos along the way," Rita's expression changed as she said this, "but I would never have seen the rest of the world if I'd just remained locked away in Aspio. It's still hard to trust some kinds of people out there, but being mistrustful all the time is...painful."

Crystal Snail sensed the sincerity in the human's words. They echoed his own situation quite well. He knew what he had been like back on Earth: a recluse, a hermit, unable to care about anything other than Magna Quartz and only capable of becoming concerned about anything when it involved his precious friend. The mollusk Reploid knew he had to face this dark side of himself at some point, otherwise he felt he would never be worthy of being Quartz's protector.

"It seems we are kindred spirits in that sense, Rita Mordio. I too was alone in the world. I hated my own ugliness, and I was unable to see past it. Magna Quartz was all I had and the only one who truly represented what little beauty I could see in my existence. I wanted nothing else...and no one else. But one day, I lost my good friend and I gave in to my despair. I died that day..." Snail sighed at length, thinking back to the day Maverick Hunter X appeared and brought an end to his life after shattering the crystalline defense unit. "Somehow, what remained of my 'soul', if you can say Reploids have such a thing, was guided here by something. I know not what, but Quartz was brought here too and I was happy to see my friend. Since then, we have spent our eternity here together." He again caressed his companion, taking comfort in the fact that he was not alone in such a strange dimension.

Rita realized the two of them indeed were very alike, but at least she had had her eyes opened by Estelle. Snail, on the other hand, had spent his existence torturing himself with thoughts of being ugly, despite the warmth he derived from his contact with Magna Quartz. She felt as if she should do something to help, but she wasn't sure exactly what her plan was at the moment.

_Great, I'm turning into Estelle._ She thought to herself with her arms crossed. "I think we should try to find a way to get out of here."

"A way out?" Snail looked at her with astonishment. "I've been trying for the longest time to see if this void has an exit of some kind leading to somewhere else, but alas, it all looks the same."

"How about if we can get Magna Quartz to help us escape. It is has the power to transport between worlds, right?"

"After what you've told me so far, it would appear so, but what triggers the warp?"

"That's...the part I don't quite know yet." Rita admitted she was stumped at the moment. She had no idea what had caused the large crystal to react the way it did back in the Erealumen Crystallands cavern. She recalled the metal orb encased within the gigantic crystal and how its red central "eye" bended light in such an unusual way. "I think it had something to do with that." As the mage of Aspio pointed at the spherical mechanism that governed the control of the crystal itself, she walked toward it and squinted to get a better look inside. Snail observed with her, and saw nothing out of the ordinary.

"That is simply the core processing device that handles all of its functions, Rita. It's similar to a brain, essentially."

"Ah I see, but I wonder what caused it to..." Before Rita could finish her sentence, an all-too familiar sound began to stir.

"Dear friend, what is it?" Crystal Snail asked, putting his hand on the crystal before a blinding white light engulfed everything.

**Terca Lumireis, in the imperial capital of Zaphias...**

Brave Vesperia, along with the Imperial Knights, had been in a tizzy trying to figure out what had happened to Rita and Flynn. When the news had been brought back by Joshua Crim and the survey team, it shocked everyone, particularly Yuri and Estelle. They were gripped with the fear that the Portalstone was out of control again.

"But Yuri," Estelle started as she reviewed the report Joshua brought back, "how could it be the Portalstone when it was that weird crystal that transported them away?"

"Did you forget about how water was behaving the same as gateways when the stone was dispersing all the worlds' boundaries, like the fountain at Mii's mansion?" Yuri said as he took his seat at the large round table everyone was present at as they wondered what they could do. "It's possible the Portalstone could affect solid objects too."

"Even if we knew where that big crystal took them, how would we even follow them?" Karol, the twelve year old appointed boss of Brave Vesperia, spoke up.

"He's right. For starters, there's just no tellin' where they could have been whisked away too." Raven, the sleepy-eyed "old man", said as he put his chin on his hand. "It's not like we have any way of knowin' just which world they were flung to, or if both of them even ended up in the same one."

"Considering how many different places you and Estelle were thrown around to during that whole escapade, and the possibility there are countless other worlds you hadn't yet seen, finding them by guessing alone is going to be impossible." Judith, the Krityan who was always one to make witty quips in even the most unique circumstances, stated as she folded her arms. From outside the building, the party could hear Ba'ul making a low almost distressed croon. "Ba'ul is worried about them."

Repede, Yuri's trusted canine companion, whined his concern too.

"We all are. Flynn and Rita are members of Brave Vesperia, and we can't just let this slide without first figuring out a way to help them." Yuri said resolutely. Just then the door opened with a slam; at the entrance was one of the knights.

"Princess Estellise, there's something you need to see!" He said, panic apparent in his tone.

"What is it?" She rose to her feet and immediately went outside, the rest of the team hot on her heels. The knight guided them to the upper quarter of the capital where a crowd of people had been gathered around someone. Shouts of "He just suddenly appeared!" and "There was this big flash of light!" rose above the murmurs and mutters of the citizens.

"Everyone, please make way for Princess Estellise!" Some of the knights who had been patrolling the walkway where everyone was trying to get a look announced so the people could make some room for Brave Vesperia. When the heroes of Terca Lumireis got a gander at just what warranted the eyes and ears of so many of the townspeople, they were taken aback to say the least. Sitting on the ground before them was a humanoid snail of some kind, made entirely of a metal that was not identifiable to anyone.

"Yuri, doesn't he remind you of...?" Estelle was about to say, but Yuri crouched down almost immediately to look at the newcomer more closely.

"You're a Reploid aren't you? Like X and Zero?"

"Yes I am. But this isn't Earth, is it?" Crystal Snail asked.

**To be continued...**


	3. The Anxiety You Bring

Author's Note: This prologue contains more expository than action, so prepare for some dialogue-intensive reading. I tried to elaborate on a few more things here while adding some mysterious tension to the various scenarios.

Prologue III: "The Anxiety You Bring"

**Energen Crystal Mine...**

The battle between the Maverick Hunters, Flynn and Hydra had escalated into an intense exchange of abilities and techniques. The knight from Terca Lumireis did his best to support X and Zero's attacks with his own and heal any damage Hydra managed to inflict on them with his magic. The seven-headed Reploid was having a hard time trying to figure out what it was Flynn was doing to keep himself and the two Hunters restored.

"Damn that human! They should have all been dead by now!" Five screamed.

"Calm down, Five. Clearly he must be using some sort of hidden apparatus to repair any damage. It is likely releasing small nanomachines that quickly respond to the injured area." Seven said knowledgeably.

"That would make sense, but my sensors aren't picking up nanomachine activity of any sort from him." Six countered. "So your theory is off, Seven."

"You daydreaming or something, Hydra?" Zero's voice calmly stated as the red Maverick Hunter slashed him across the chest with his Z-Saber. The hydra Reploid shrieked in pain.

"Damn you Zero!" Hydra swung one of his arms at the S-Rank, but didn't take stock of X firing off a charged shot in his direction, which knocked him senseless. Flynn immediately followed up by unleashing his Beast arte, sending the Maverick into the wall behind him with a blast of lion-shaped blue energy. In the instant he tried to free himself from the wall, he quickly found X, Zero and Flynn's respective weapons pointed directly at him at close range.

"Checkmate, Hydra." Zero said as he put his free hand on the side of his helmet. "Maverick Hunter HQ, this is Zero. We've captured Hydra."

"Affirmative. We've confirmed the backup we sent is there now. They were delayed en route by Hydra's troops. Apparently they were preparing to bring more supplies over to his base when they saw our team and attacked them."

"That's what I don't get. Where _is_ his base?" X asked. "If he's planning on building a warship of some kind, he'd need somewhere to hide it until production was complete."

"Knowing this guy's ego, it's probably massive and needs somewhere equally as big to hide." Zero commented snidely. Maverick Hunter officers entered the cavern just then and began arresting and detaining the remainder of Hydra's forces. The big Maverick himself needed very large power shackles to get his entire body under control so that he wouldn't start causing a ruckus again.

"Commander Zero, we apologize for the delay. We were ambushed suddenly and they kept us occupied on the bridge." The head of the backup said with a salute.

"HQ informed us. Don't worry about it. Have those supplies returned to wherever they stole them from in the meantime."

"Yes sir!" As the officer took off, Zero walked over to where X was standing with Flynn. "Now that the situation's calmed down, we need to figure out what's going on with you being here."

"Believe me, I'm at just as much of a loss as you are." Flynn stated with a sigh. "However, I can tell you that this has nothing to do with the Portalstone."

The imperial knight's words did surprise both Hunters a little. It was easy to assume that it was indeed the priceless treasure of the Koryuji household that had brought the human from his world into this one, just as it had done previously, but that wasn't the case this time.

"What makes you say that?" X asked.

"Because the object that brought me here was something else entirely and it was unearthed in my world. It was a large crystal of some kind with a strange sphere in the center of it. When it was discovered back in my world, I was called in to investigate it, along with a friend. The crystal emitted an intensely bright light and the moment I could see clearly again, I found myself here. I overheard the fighting...and you know the rest."

"That explains the massive energy spike we detected earlier." Zero said as he thought back to the Portalstone itself, recalling its appearance and the intense level of dimensional energy it emitted. "Guess it's not that surprising to hear of another object with power similar to Miss Koryuji's family heirloom. So finding Hydra here was just a coincidence."

"A large crystal with a strange sphere..." X pondered for a moment what the object would look like before he got a sudden transmission from the base.

"X, this is Alia. Signas requests that the two of you return to report your findings as soon as possible."

"Understood, we're on our way." X looked to Flynn and Zero. "Mind being our guest at HQ, Captain Scifo?" He said with a smile.

"Certainly. It's not like I've got anywhere else to go." Flynn said. "I just hope Rita's okay. If she wasn't brought here, then there's no telling where she was sent to."

The Maverick Hunters looked at one another and understood the knight's concern. If the crystal object behaved anything like the Portalstone, the destinations were never made clear to anyone.

**Terca Lumireis, Zaphias Castle Refectory...**

After the initial shock of his sudden entrance had passed, Crystal Snail explained what had happened to him prior to his arrival. The members of Brave Vesperia were relieved to hear Rita had been fine and well for the short time she was with Snail in the unknown dimension, but were still concerned for her when they realized she had not been transported back to Terca Lumireis. Though secondary in importance to Yuri and Estelle, it was also a relief to hear that the Portalstone hadn't been the cause of this incident, despite the similarity between the two.

"The worst part of it is we still don't know where Flynn was sent to and how we're even going to locate both of them." Yuri said as he sat back with his arms crossed in frustration. The rest of the refectory's occupants were similarly downcast as they knew this was a truth they couldn't work around at the moment due to the limited information they possessed.

"Um, Mr. Snail? Is there anything we could get you?" Estelle started up when the room stayed silent for too long.

"I appreciate the gesture, Princess Estellise, thank you. I have no need of anything." Snail responded as he looked at the imperial princess and realized that she must have been the friend Rita had mentioned to him who had helped her open up more. "I'm deeply sorry that I cannot be of much help to you currently. Magna Quartz has become more of a mystery than a companion now. I honestly had no idea about her even having this dimension-traversing power." Crystal Snail's words did little to placate the worry that had been saturating the room, despite his sincerity.

"Her?" Estelle asked, wondering if she had heard that right.

"I think I'll go out for some air." Judith said plainly as she headed for the door.

"Mind if I join you, Judith darlin'?" Raven asked, as he got up from his seat. "This old man's going to suffocate if he stays boxed up here any longer." His tone was not insulting, but rather a statement that he spoke for everyone.

"Sure. The night air might help us cool off a bit. I'd rather think of a plan of action with a clear head." Once the two of them had left, Yuri, Estelle, Karol and Snail looked back at each other.

"I apologize if I have upset them." The mollusk Reploid said.

"No, no, not at all, Mr. Snail! I think we're all just a little frustrated because we're not sure what to do at the moment." Estelle stammered.

"I am curious about something though. You knew I was a Reploid the nanosecond you saw me. As you've told me, this is not Earth. So if you don't mind explaining, how do you know about Reploids?"

Yuri and Estelle looked at each other and knew it was only fair to explain it to their otherworld guest. What followed was an incredible story that Crystal Snail had a lot of difficulty believing, as it sounded more absurd than acceptable, but when the two humans mentioned how they eventually met with the Maverick Hunters X and Zero in Cyberspace, as well as fighting Vile, he knew their story had to be true. There was no other way for them to know about Reploids or those names otherwise.

"...And after we helped put a stop to Oros Phlox's plans, we all returned home to our worlds." Estelle concluded, leaving Snail's curiosity quite satisfied.

"Truly a remarkable adventure you must have had."

"Heh, 'remarkable' is putting it lightly." Yuri said, actually happy to be smiling after all the morose tension that had clogged the refectory previously.

"To think humans could stand against Vile like that, and help defeat him. I had never met him, but I had heard stories of his combat prowess."

"Yeah, from the way you described him, he sounded like a really scary guy." Karol, who had been silent for quite some time, piped up nervously. "Just like Zagi."

"Ugh, don't remind me. I don't want to think about _either_ of them!" Yuri said, exasperated, but he laughed shortly after. Estelle giggled a little, noticing that her friend was letting out some of his own frustration.

"Of course, I mean no insult by it. On Earth in my time, almost all humans are generally civilians or other noncombatants and lack the means to fight Reploids like that, but it seems I was quite wrong. The various friends you made across your adventure sound quite impressive, especially those folks who can destroy cars with their bare hands or those...'God Eaters' I believe you called them."

"They must have been crazy strong! I wish I could have met them!" Karol said excitedly, wondering indeed what Yuri and Estelle's otherworldly allies must have been like.

"I hope we can think of some way to get Rita and Flynn back." Estelle said at length.

"Don't worry Estelle. After what we went through before, we'll definitely find a way to get them home." Yuri yawned a little, realizing how long their meeting lasted. "Man, glad I'm not a bureaucrat. I could never do this sort of thing daily."

"It is pretty late. I need to get some sleep. I have some official documents to look over in the morning. Please let me know if you hear anything." The princess rose from her chair and left the room. Outside she sighed quietly, deeply worried for Rita. Despite the thickness of the wooden doors, it had been clearly audible to the room's remaining occupants.

**Earth, Maverick Hunter HQ...**

Needless to say, the other members of the Maverick Hunter base were surprised to see X and Zero bringing in a human. At first, they assumed the young man was someone Hydra had been holding hostage and that he had been brought back safely from the incident. However, when the two Hunters explained that he not only helped the two of them defeat Hydra, but that he was also one of their allies from the Portalstone incident, they were left agape, needless to say.

"X, Zero, Signas is waiting for your report." Alia said quickly.

"Understood. Flynn, we'll be with you shortly." The two Hunters left the communications room to deliver their findings while the cross-dimensional traveler found himself left in the presence of so many Reploids. Everyone returned to their duties immediately after, knowing that this was no time for gossip.

Flynn was impressed with the HQ's level of discipline.

_No wonder X and Zero are such amazing Hunters. Nobody here wastes a second doing anything unnecessary. I wonder if I should try instituting some stricter measures to keep the knights operating this smoothly. _The young knight mused. _It would certainly help with..._

"Excuse me sir?" A female Navigator Reploid spoke to Flynn.

"Yes?" He looked at her, realizing he nearly went off on a tangent in his thoughts.

"Is there anything I can get you? We have some facilities if you need to rest."

"Oh no, thank you. Please don't trouble yourself. I'm fine." Flynn smiled kindly in return. The female Navigator felt like blushing just a little.

"Very well, please let one of us know if you require anything." She bowed politely and went back to her duties. After what seemed like an hour had passed, X and Zero returned to the communications room with Signas. Flynn had simply waited by the door for their arrival.

"Flynn, this is our commanding officer, Signas. He oversees all operations at Maverick Hunter HQ." Zero said, catching the human's attention.

"A pleasure to meet you, Commander Signas, sir. My name is Flynn Scifo." The knight saluted him with all the discipline of a well-trained soldier.

"The pleasure is mine, Captain Scifo. X and Zero have explained everything to me. It seems you have been flung from your world again into yet another."

"Yes, I wasn't anticipating dimension traversal to be a common occurrence for that matter." Flynn sighed.

"You mentioned to them that this wasn't the Portalstone's doing. Can you confirm that?"

"Yes Commander, I certainly can. The cause of my being brought here was the object I described to X and Zero."

"A crystal with a strange sphere in its center, correct? Could you give us any other details? Perhaps its color or any other distinct markings?" Signas asked. Flynn nodded and recalled what he could about the crystal object, taking into regard its faintly translucent purple coloring and giving a more accurate description of the central metal sphere. X's face wore a look of alarm when he finally realized what the knight had been talking about.

"Magna Quartz!" He exclaimed.

"What?" Zero looked at his partner and was having trouble believing his audio processors. The rest of the Hunters as well as the Navigators heard it too and were equally shocked.

"Magna Quartz..." Alia pulled up the file they had in HQ's database about it and put the imaging results on the main screen. "Flynn, did the object look like this?" She asked him from across the room. The knight captain looked up at it and his eyes went slightly wide.

"Yes, that's exactly what it looked like. There's no doubt about it." Needless to say, Maverick Hunter HQ's occupants were quite startled to hear this, much less be expected to believe it.

"How? How is it possible for it to still be functioning and also somehow end up in another world?" X spoke aloud, his voice quiet but struggling to find some reason in what he just said.

"I have a feeling I'm not seeing the entirety of this." Flynn put his hand under his chin.

"Magna Quartz was completely destroyed by X during the Second Maverick Outbreak. Nothing supposedly remained except miniscule shards of the crystal that surrounded the central processing unit, the part you referred to as the 'strange sphere', Flynn." Zero explained, bringing their friend up to speed.

"I understand, but if this machine was destroyed by X, I'm not entirely sure how I can explain seeing it in my world."

"This is quite troubling. A foe we once considered utterly obliterated has somehow been explicably revived and has now caused problems on another planet entirely." Signas said calmly as he pondered the situation. "As well as possessing capabilities it clearly did not have before."

All this came across as almost horrifying to the HQ. X and Zero were reminded of Metal Shark Prayer's ability to use the DNA of fallen Reploids to reconstruct clones of them from scrap parts, during the Nightmare Incident. This, however, was something entirely different. No one in the entire base could even begin to formulate a working theory as to how it was possible that a destroyed Mechaniloid could suddenly revive from the dead and have access to powers it never originally possessed.

"Being rebuilt is one thing, but how does something from one world end up in another one entirely and gain access to such unusual abilities? Plus there were no trace remnants of the pieces of Magna Quartz's crystal following its destruction. The few crystal slithers that actually remained were...consumed by Crystal Snail, according to X's account of the battle." Layer quickly ran off the files for X's duel with Snail from the archives.

"Do you think it's possible someone else like Due Flabellum exists out there? With powers like the Portalstone's ability to defy the laws of nature and time?" Flynn said, trying to contribute some hypothesis to the discussion. The very idea was plausible, but also seemed more unsettling than helpful. Before they could elaborate on any other possibilities, an alarm went off, signaling another Maverick attack. Further discussion would have to wait.

**Unknown location...**

At that moment, Rita was again dreaming of a time she could never make out, a moment in her life she could never make clear. She was looking up from a laying position, as if someone had just set her on the ground. There were two people looking down at her. They were merely blank silhouettes, but she could tell one was a man and the other was a woman. Ever since stopping Duke's plan, she'd been having the same dream over and over. Rita wanted to reach her hand out to them, but as soon as she was able to make out even a tiny fraction of the onlookers' faces, the dream would end...

"...every single time." She said as she slowly rose from lying on the grass. Grass? She ran her fingers through the blades underneath and realized she was outdoors. "Am I finally back?" Rita turned her head and looked around at her surroundings. Laying close by was Magna Quartz. "You're here with me, but where's..." It dawned on her that Crystal Snail was not with her or anywhere in the small forest clearing she found herself in at present. To make matters less comfortable, the genius mage of Aspio did not recognize the area she was transported to at all. She thought she was in one of the forested portions near Zaphias, but she did not recognize the trees.

"Sir, the bright flash came from over here!" A voice rang out. Footsteps approached where Rita was and she quickly got to her feet, forgetting the fatigue the warp had cast upon her. Several armored knights came into view, some armed with swords and others with spears. "There's someone here!"

_These are definitely not our knights. Just where is this?_

Another figure entered the forest behind the troops, and he was definitely someone of importance, judging from his uniform. Unlike his men, he wore a blue sleeveless long-coat, adorned with gold buttons. He also wore long-sleeved gloves and boots, as well as a cape that hung down to medium length from behind.

"Who are you people?" Rita blurted out.

"Don't you think you should introduce yourself before asking someone for their name, young miss?" The newcomer adjusted the pair of glasses he wore and gave her a rather pokerfaced stare with his vivid red eyes despite the strangely witty tone in his voice. "But since I'm such a nice person, I'll tell you: Colonel Jade Curtiss, Third Division of the Malkuth Military. And you're under arrest for trespassing in Malkuth territory."

**To be continued...**

*I chose to go with Metal Shark Prayer's name the way it was meant to be localized in English rather than Player. If you recall, he invoked "summoning prayers" to revive Chameleon, Centipede and Hornet as his desperation attack in X6.

*Huzzah, I've introduced a new Tales world into the mix!


	4. The Credo of Royalty

Author's Note: It seems I ended up making this prologue a lot longer than I intended to, but considering I was keeping track of three worlds, I guess it only stands to reason it became more lengthy. Still I wasn't aiming to go this long. The next prologue will be the last one and then the real meat of the story takes center stage.

Prologue IV: "The Credo of Royalty"

**Auldrant, the world of **_**Tales of the Abyss**_**, Malkuth region.****..**

Faced with the threat of being apprehended in a new world, and worse incarcerated, Rita Mordio's list of recent shocks was starting to wear on her nerves now. One moment she was in that weird dimension with Crystal Snail, the next she found herself in yet another unfamiliar land, and completely alone to boot.

_Well except for that._ She quickly shot her gaze at the fallen Magna Quartz. _Maybe if I'm fast enough, I can run to it and transport out of here._

"Well well, I hope you're not getting it in your head to try something, young lady. It wouldn't be in your best interest to pull some imbecilic stunt at this point." Jade's voice brought her attention back as he adjusted his glasses calmly.

"Look weirdo, I don't have time for your crap right now. I have more important problems to deal with." The girl was clearly in no mood to cooperate, as the knights were rather taken aback by her brazen attitude toward the colonel. Jade sighed.

"You certainly have quite a mouth on you, don't you? Very well, if you wish to make this difficult..." The Malkuth military man began chanting a fonic arte, which caught Rita off guard as a glyph appeared underneath at his feet and began rotating clockwise slowly.

"What the..." She tried to ready an arte of her own, but was too slow to start.

"O mighty explosion. Energy Blast!" Jade shouted. A large sphere of white light appeared in front of her and burst suddenly, hurtling her into a tree with intense force. Rita blacked out shortly after. Jade walked over to the unconscious girl and looked at the crystal object laying nearby. "It seems we have quite the unusual trespasser this time."

"Sir, could she possibly be a spy from a new foreign power?"

"I doubt it, but she is still suspicious. Best to keep an eye on her for the time being." Jade knelt down and examined Magna Quartz more closely. _We'll need to reduce this object's density if we want to have any hope of taking it back._ "Have our fonists come in to deal with this. We'll have our researchers analyze it later."

"Yes sir!" The armored soldier saluted as he took off. Jade looked back to Rita one final time.

"I guess we'll find out in due time just who you are, won't we?"

**Grand Chokmah, capital of the Malkuth Empire...**

Following the encounter, Jade promptly returned to the castle while his troops and the royal fonists dealt with Rita and Magna Quartz respectively. Entering the throne room, he presented himself before Emperor Peony Upala Malkuth IX and gave a detailed report of what he had found in the forested area.

"So that mysterious surge of unidentifiable energy was because of a girl and a large crystal?" Peony asked in his usual nonchalant but still serious manner.

"Yes, Your Majesty. She was not very cooperative about coming along peacefully, so I had to use force to subdue her."

"Always rough with the ladies, aren't you Jade?" The emperor joked. "I hope you held back."

"Your Majesty, please take this seriously." Jade sighed as he adjusted his glasses. Peony IX was always known to be a carefree joker even during serious conferences between himself and important parties.

"How can a girl and a crystal be the cause of such an enormous release of energy though? It doesn't make sense."

"My theory is the crystal is the one that generated the energy. The girl may or may not have something to do with it, but at this stage I can't say. Our researchers will have their hands full with the object's analysis."

"And the girl?"

"She's been given suitable 'accommodations'. Perhaps when she's in a more cooperative mood, we can talk." The infamously named "Necromancer" said with his usual sarcastic wit.

**Terca Lumireis, Zaphias, in the Lower Quarter...**

The following morning, Crystal Snail had decided to spend his time with Yuri and Repede strolling around. The townspeople had originally stared at him upon his initial "flashy arrival", but now they treated him as if he'd always been part of the imperial capital and welcomed him warmly, knowing Princess Estellise trusted him. A number of the children were curious about him and Snail took the time to impress the youngsters by using his Crystal Hunter to create large and beautiful crystal structures for everyone to admire.

"That's an interesting move you got." Yuri casually stated with his hands behind his head. "Makes the kids happy at least."

"Back then, it was merely a weapon. I used it to fight X, and I nearly killed him with it. I never want to wield it as a tool of murder again." Snail admitted outright, almost without thinking about it. In the time he had spent in the unknown dimension, he had gained a better sense of how he wanted to live his new "life", even if it was in a place he understood nothing about. All those countless years taught him that there was more to life than hurting and attacking others, as well as finding the sense of peace he realized X had always sought in a war-torn world.

Yuri was quiet for a moment as he understood the Reploid's feelings. It mirrored what X said when he and his allies first met him in Cyberspace.

_Reploids constantly destroying each other. It has to end!_

"Well hey, I'm not going to pretend I know everything about Reploids and Mavericks and all that stuff from your world, but if you're anything like X, I think you'll be fine."

"I appreciate your words, Yuri. Thank you." Crystal Snail sighed as he thought of his beloved Magna Quartz and hoping for some sign that he could find her again soon. Repede barked, getting his attention as a knight from the castle came running toward them.

"Yuri Lowell, Princess Estellise requires your presence at the castle! The members of the survey team that had scouted the cavern where Captain Scifo and Rita Mordio disappeared have found something!"

"Let's go! This could be our chance to get them back at last!" Yuri, Repede and Snail took off immediately after the knight. When they arrived at the castle meeting room, Estelle was there with Karol, Raven and Judith already in tow. They were examining something on a small cloth set upon a small dresser. Upon closer inspection, there was a single glittering crystal shard sitting on the cloth.

"Mr. Snail, I think you should have a look at this." Estelle said as the members of Brave Vesperia moved aside for him to look. The mollusk Reploid moved forward to get a better look and as his eyes beheld it, it was enough to make his face light up with some faint trace of hope.

"It's a piece of Magna Quartz!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, quite sure. The color, the texture, this is definitely a shard from my dear friend."

"So when Magna Quartz vanished with Rita and Flynn, a piece of the crystal was chipped off in the process?" Estelle hypothesized.

"Didn't the team say a big burst of light came explodin' out of the crystal in the previous report?" Raven asked.

"That's right. Perhaps that light was so intense that it caused a piece of Magna Quartz to splinter off."

"What do you think, Snail?" Yuri asked. The Reploid was trying to take in what he had just heard from Raven and realized something that filled him with fear.

"If Magna Quartz slowly breaks like this every time she initiates her warping power, then...little by little she is destroying herself in the process." He said with a grim, almost deathly quiet tone to his voice. The members of Brave Vesperia looked at one another. "I have to find her, and make her stop before she destroys herself completely."

"Don't worry, we'll help you out with this!" Karol announced rather proudly. "You can count on Brave Vesperia to see it through!"

"Capn' Karol's all fired up. Looks like we'll have to make this official, Snail." Yuri said, putting his hand on the Reploid's shoulder.

"I appreciate that your group wishes to help me, but I'm not even certain what I'm supposed to do at this point. Nor do I wish to involve people from another world in my problems."

"The minute Flynn and Rita disappeared, it became our problem." Yuri's tone became serious. "So we're all in this till we get them back." The rest of Brave Vesperia nodded their heads in agreement.

"I'm not sure if this might work, but perhaps we can use that sliver of Magna Quartz to warp the way...she does." Estelle suggested. Snail looked at the princess and his eyes showed a bit of surprise. He hadn't thought about that.

"I believe you're right about that, Princess. I can detect residual traces of strong energy surrounding this small fragment. If I can stimulate it somehow, the warping process can be initiated."

"While that sounds plausible, we have no idea where it might take us, and the risk of us getting lost in some unknown world exists." Judith piped up.

"She's right. If we're gonna commit ta this, then only a few of us should go with Snail here. That way, if Rita and the good Captain happen to come back on their own, then at least there'll be _somebody_ around to explain." Raven added. "In other words, ol' Raven's saying we should think this through before we go jumpin' the gun here. Not properly preparin' gets you killed out on the field."

The room fell quiet after that one. While Yuri and Estelle were eager to get going and find their missing friends, Raven's comments made perfect sense. It reminded the two of them heavily of the random warping of their crazy adventure alongside their allies from other dimensions. Without a clear guiding direction and plan of action, a journey wasn't a journey. It was just idiotic meandering.

"Listen, I know you two and Flynn are more experienced than any of us here with this 'traveling to other worlds' business, but we only have a single piece of that crystal. We have no guarantee it'll take us to where Flynn and Rita were transported. Once we use it, the shard will likely be gone and then all of us could be stranded somewhere we shouldn't be." Judith said, to drive the point home.

"Then that means only two of us should go with Snail...and those two should be us." Yuri put his hand to his chest. Estelle nodded, as the did the rest of the room's occupants. "Now we just need a destination."

"Mr. Snail, perhaps we could go to this Earth where you're from." Estelle put her finger to her chin while thinking about her idea.

"An interesting proposition. Why his world?" Judith asked.

"Magna Quartz is from Snail's world, right? Maybe it actually went home, like the Portalstone."

"But if I recall correctly, you told us the Portalstone never actually left Mii's mansion. Oros Phlox just stashed it under the fountain."

"Wow, right under the owner's nose? That seems almost clever." Karol said, crossing his arms.

"But the concept is somewhat the same. Magna Quartz is from Earth, just like Snail. Perhaps that warp it did was like a homing beacon, returning home to it...her place of origin."

"So Flynn and Rita just happened ta be in the wrong place when the thing decided ta pack up and go home? Damn, what bad timing." Raven shook his head. "But the good news is, once you find the two of them, you can just use another small piece of Magna Quartz to come back here. Everything'll be fine then."

"Very well then, it's decided. Yuri, Estelle and Snail, you three go and find a way to bring our friends back. Bring them back in the name of Brave Vesperia!" Karol shouted as his pointed dramatically in his usual "guild leader's way".

"You got it Capn' Karol. Everyone ready?" Yuri looked to the two of them.

"Yes, let's get them back home! Are you ready, Mr. Snail?"

"Yes. If I concentrate on the location using the electricity from my sensors, I can force the crystal to home in on a location on Earth. Here goes..." As he pictured the Energen Crystal Mine from where he had his final battle with X, electricity began crackling between the tall stalks on his head and he sent the charge into the small shard in his hand. Within seconds, the shard lit up with the same intense light as Magna Quartz had done before and the three of them were gone as soon as everyone else could see again.

"Good luck you guys." Karol said, but with a tone that betrayed his previous confidence.

**Earth, Raga Ski Resort...**

Yuri slowly opened his eyes, crossing his arms over his body when he realized he was lying in something quite cold. "Damn, what the hell?" He stood up quickly, brushed the snow off his clothes and looked around. "Estelle!"

"I'm here!" The familiar voice of the princess rang out from the bottom of a nearby ski slope.

"And Snail?"

"Here as well, Mr. Lowell." The mollusk Reploid made his way toward them, trudging through the deep snow all the while. "I don't understand what went wrong. I was trying to send us to the Energen Crystal Mine, where I was destroyed by X. It was the last familiar place in my memory banks. I don't recognize this place in the least."

"Geez, it's like the Blade Drifts of Zopheir all over again." Yuri grumbled. The three of them looked around for a bit. Just then, footsteps could be heard as a young boy approached them.

"Hey mister, what are you doing up here? Are you here to ski?" The boy asked.

"Not exactly."

"Excuse me," Estelle started, "I have a question." The boy blushed. He never got asked a question by such a pretty girl before.

"Sure big sis, what is it?"

"Are we on Earth?"

The boy was taken aback so suddenly by the question that he nearly fell back. "Um, sure? This is Earth. Why are you asking such a weird question? Did you hit your heads or something when you fell?"

"It's kind of hard to explain. Say kiddo, you know X and Zero by any chance?" Yuri said, realizing there was no point in trying to circumvent their inquiries.

"You mean the Maverick Hunters X and Zero? Yeah, I've met X before. Are you a friend of his?"

"Yes we are. I don't suppose you could contact him for us, or point us in the direction we could find him?"

"Well we can try contacting the base at the emergency center in town, but it's supposed to be for actual emergencies."

"Please, we're looking for some missing friends of ours and the Maverick Hunters are the only ones who can help us." Estelle pleaded sincerely. The boy was a bit hesitant, but remembered when X saved his best friend from a fate that nearly killed him.

"Toshihiko!" A deep voice called out. A new face approached the group, one belonging to that of a very tall and large Reploid that resembled a large bipedal bison.

"Big Brother Blizzard!" Toshihiko shouted elatedly as he ran to his big friend.

"Everything okay out here? I was wondering what was taking you so long."

"Big Bro, these people need to speak with the Maverick Hunters. Apparently, they know X and Zero. They said they're looking for some missing friends."

"Is that so?" The bison Reploid turned to look at the trio. "Pleasure to meet you. I'm Blizzard Buffalo, and this is Toshihiko. Welcome to Raga Ski Resort."

"My name is Estellise Sidos Heurassein. These are my friends, Yuri Lowell and Crystal Snail."

Snail's name made Buffalo's eyes widen just a bit in surprise. _Did I hear that right? Crystal Snail. Wasn't he..._

"That's a fancy name you have, Big Sis. Are you royalty?" Toshihiko casually asked while sitting on Blizzard Buffalo's shoulder. Estelle breathed a bit inwardly, wondering whether or not her status might help speed things along.

"Yes, I am a princess actually. We urgently request your help in this matter." She bowed politely to them, which surprised the two.

"I didn't realize we had dignitaries visiting. We'd best call the Hunters then." Buffalo looked to his human charge. The boy looked back, still rather surprised, and nodded in agreement.

As the group made their way down from the ski slope to the emergency center in the nearby town, Estelle couldn't help notice how nice the boy and bison Reploid's friendship appeared. She wondered if this was the kind of peace X and Zero fought so hard to protect in their world. She didn't get to ask many questions to any of her allies during the Portalstone incident, but she had been curious about how it pained X that Reploids were constantly fighting each other. Toshihiko caught sight of her gaze.

"What is it, big sis? Something wrong?"

"Huh? Oh, I was just thinking how nice you two look together. It's very sweet."

"Oh, uh, thanks." Toshihiko blushed again. He just wasn't used to talking to girls who said nice things to him like this. "Big Brother Buffalo is my best friend. He helped me overcome my loneliness in the past."

"And Toshihiko never gave up on me, even when I...lost control of myself and did horrible things. Even when I broke my promise to him, he was the only one who believed in me." The bison Reploid said sincerely. Clearly he didn't wish to remember the horrible past he had experienced, but remembered that the young human sitting on his shoulder was the reason he went on existing, despite the punishment he felt he deserved. "I'm curious though, how do you know X and Zero?"

"We met them on a journey once. A really crazy, insane journey." Yuri muttered, sounding unsure of if he should start talking about it so plainly. Toshihiko and Buffalo looked at each other, with the boy simply shrugging at Yuri's tone. As they marched on, Buffalo wondered about the quietest one of the trio who kept to himself the most.

_Is that really Crystal Snail? I only know that X destroyed a Maverick by that name during the Second Maverick War. He could simply be using the name, or he could be a facsimile. _

"We're here." Toshihiko announced, bringing Buffalo's attention back. He would have time to think it over later.

**Auldrant, Grand Chokmah...**

Rita slowly came to, and rose to find herself in a prison cell. She remembered what had happened and panicked a little.

_Where am I? Where's Magna Quartz? Damn it, I can't believe this!_ Her thoughts were furious, but then she suddenly recalled she was able to use her blastia back in the spatial dimension where she met Crystal Snail. _Maybe..._ Rita began chanting an arte and prepared to direct it at the prison bars when she was suddenly interrupted.

"I'd advise you not to attempt escape when we're willing to hear your story." A familiar voice spoke from around the corner.

"Oh great, not you again." Rita muttered.

"It's nice to see you too, Miss." Jade shrugged his shoulders as obnoxiously as possible, irritating the girl further with his nonchalance. "As I said, we're willing to hear your side of things if you promise to cooperate. Emperor Peony wants to know about the large crystal object that was with you in the woods and he would like to request your presence later tonight for an explanation."

"...Look. I need that crystal in order to get home, okay? I'm not supposed to be here."

"Is that a fact? Well if it's that important to you, then we can consider returning it to you once the Emperor listens to your story." Jade adjusted his glasses and exited the dungeon area, leaving Rita to sit anxiously.

**Later that night...**

Nightfall came to the world of Auldrant and Rita was escorted from her cell to meet with the monarch of the Malkuth Empire. She wasn't exactly the best person to speak with royals, but she had no choice. If she didn't convince Emperor Peony, the genius mage of Aspio could be stranded in an unfamiliar world with no chance of getting home again. Sometimes Rita wondered why she kept getting caught up in these things.

"Now presenting His Majesty, Emperor Peony Upala Malkuth IX." One of the knights standing at attention announced as Rita realized she was in the throne room already. Seated upon an elaborate throne atop a set of three circular sandstone-colored altars of different widths was an attractive man in his mid-thirties with tan skin, sandy blonde hair and dark blue eyes. He did not wear a crown of any kind atop his head nor did he wear any fineries that would peg him as a ruler. Instead, his manner of dress seemed rather casual, despite the fabric looked to be of particularly high quality. He wore a short-sleeved light blue tunic lined with marigold markings, and underneath that was a midnight blue long-sleeved shirt. He wore brick red trousers which had crisscrossing sashes running over them, also marigold. Most interestingly, he wore not boots but open-toed sandals.

"So this is the girl that was apprehended earlier today in the woods." He said with a very jovial voice, which startled Rita. She was expecting him to sound more stern and angry with her, since she had apparently committed a crime. Then again, considering the way he was dressed, it dawned on the girl that perhaps he wasn't much like other royals. "Well she's not as cute as Tear or Natalia, but still not bad either." The emperor said, causing an awkward moment to pass as Rita donned her famous incredulous face.

_Definitely not like any noble I know. What kind of ruler says stuff like that? You'd think he was taking lessons from Raven or something!_

"Yes Your Majesty, this is the trespasser. She agreed to be more cooperative, so she'll be happy to explain herself now." Jade said as he stepped forth. "Unless you've changed your mind and wish to go back to your cell?"

"Y...yeah. I'll explain." Rita responded nervously. The threat of further incarceration did not appeal to her.

"Now now Jade, let's not turn this into a ruthless interrogation." Peony said as he rose from his throne. "Allow me to properly introduce you, my dear. I'm Emperor Peony IX and you are in Grand Chokmah, the capital city of the Malkuth Empire. Unfortunately, with things as they are currently, the situation has made many folks tense. I'm quite certain you're not a spy for a new burgeoning power, correct?"

"What!? No way, do I honestly look like a spy to you!?" Rita blurted out rather angrily, forgetting who she was talking to.

"Honestly no, not with how clumsy your movements are in battle." Jade said with an impish smile, which ticked Rita off more. "Perhaps you'd best begin explaining yourself before you land yourself in further trouble. My tolerance with young folks is quite thin these days." The humor was sucked out of the moment as Emperor Peony sighed, knowing how Jade could get with people when answers were not immediately forthcoming.

"F...fine. My name is Rita Mordio. I'm a researcher from the town of Aspio, where I'm from. The object that I had with me is called Magna Quartz. It's what brought me here, to your world." She said as calmly as possible, trying to make sure everything she stated didn't sound utterly ridiculous.

"My my, what amusing opening lines." The Necromancer returned after he and Peony looked at each other. "I've never heard of Aspio. On top of that, you said that large object brought you to our world. You mean to say you're not from our planet?"

"That's precisely what I'm saying. I'm from another world entirely called Terca Lumireis. I was brought her by Magna Quartz from my world." Rita chose to leave out the part about the unknown dimension and Crystal Snail. She didn't need to add any more "unbelievable" to this stewpot than she already added.

"I have to say Miss Mordio, that is quite an unusual explanation. I want to believe you, but it sounds like the tale of a ranting drunkard or a madman." Peony sat back down and brought his hand under his chin.

"I'm telling the truth, Your Majesty. I can prove it to you, but I need Magna Quartz in order to do that." Rita pleaded. "Just give me a chance to show you."

Emperor Peony spent some time silent, thinking over the mage girl's words carefully. "I will need a moment to consider my answer. Will you wait, Rita?"

"Sure."

"Guards, please take her to the guest chamber, and give the girl something to drink. She looks as if she hasn't had anything in days." By his command, two knights escorted Rita out while Jade remained with Peony. "So what do you think, Jade? Her story is a bit...out there, but I supposed it couldn't be any less strange than when we learned the truth about our own world, right?"

"Your Majesty, finding out about the Qliphoth hardly compares to a story about coming from another world. I'm willing to believe some things, but this is just too illogical for words." Jade shrugged, frustrated that his friend would even start comparing the truth about Auldrant with the girl's explanation about being from another planet.

"Still, I'd like to give her a chance. After all...she doesn't have fonons." Emperor Peony looked with a silent glare at his most trusted confidante.

"So you noticed it too, Your Majesty? I should have anticipated you'd bring up that point. I do find it extremely bizarre that her body has no fonons cycling through it whatsoever."

"The researchers who were analyzing that object she calls Magna Quartz said that neither the crystal nor the girl contained any fonons. That's simply not possible, at least for a life-form _born_ on our planet." Peony's words carried a sense of finality at that point. Jade nodded in response and had the guards bring Rita back in, whose face lit up with a bit more hope than she had before when the emperor explained what they wanted her to do.

**Fonic Research Lab...**

It took some time to get everything set up for the "big demonstration", but Peony made it clear that they wanted their scientists to record whatever happened this day. They were curious what one girl was going to do to prove she was from another world. The fact she bore no fonons, the basic particle that made up essentially everything and everyone on Auldrant, was reason enough for them to observe closely. Rita hated being on display like some kind of guinea pig, but she was willing to put up with it for the sake of going home.

_Besides, once I warp out of here, none of this will matter._ She mused. With that thought in mind, she walked up to where Magna Quartz was laying on a large table, like some patient waiting to be cut up by surgeons. Putting her hand on the area above where Magna's metallic globe lay, she was counting on the encased sphere to work her magic. _Come on, I need a warp out of here! Fire up your brain and do it!_ The genius mage wasn't sure if Magna Quartz had read her mind at the moment, but in that instant, that familiar swell of bright white light began building up and growing wider. As Rita waited for the big exit, she felt a horrible burning sensation and pulled her hand away from the large crystal's surface in pain, as if she'd accidentally touched a stovetop. "Ow!"

Hearing the girl's exclamation of pain, Jade ran to her side in an attempt to pull her away, but by then it was too late. The light grew to its maximum brightness and then suddenly cleared, having blinded all of the room's occupants. Emperor Peony had covered his eyes with the his arm almost instinctually, having avoided the temporary blindness.

"That was certainly quite a show. I guess that proves she was telling the truth, right Jade?" He said. "Jade?"

"Sir, Colonel Curtiss isn't here!" One of the researchers announced in a shock.

"What? How can that be?"

"He just vanished with that girl!"

**To be continued...**

Raven's speaking style was something I wanted to emulate here, but I feel like it's tough to peg down at times. In the game, sometimes he spoke in a normal conversational way, and other times he spoke in his unique "Raven" way. In the Japanese version of Vesperia, he spoke in a strangely loose style, using terms like "da" and "da wa na" and had lines such as "You just leave it to this old man." In the English version of the game, the translators handled this very well with stuff like "ol' Raven" in lines like "Just leave it up ta ol' Raven." Hope I can get that down better in future chapters that Raven will appear in.

The name of the ski resort where Blizzard Buffalo's stage was in _Mega Man X3_ was called Raaga in the manga, but I shortened it to Raga since it makes little sense to point out a Japanese vowel extension in English. Also, the kid Toshihiko only appeared in the _X3_ manga, but there's a lot that can be done with his character, so he won't just be a one-shot.

Again, the reason for this prologue being longer than normal was because I had to keep track of three different worlds, so creating scenarios based on their importance and length is why it ended up as long as it did.


	5. The Adventure Begins Once More

Author's Note: This is it, the final prologue before things kick off with more Tales worlds to explore and a possible explanation as to why Magna Quartz has become this crazy item of Portalstone-level power. As this is the last precursor before things hit the fan, this prologue will likely be the longest one I've written, so bear in mind with the progression. Now, without further ado...

Prologue V: "The Adventure Begins Once More"

**Earth, Maverick Hunter Headquarters...**

"Maverick Hunter HQ, what is your emergency?" One of the operators spoke as she answered an incoming communications request. "Toshihiko? You know this line is to be used for emergencies only. What?" Her words caught the attention of X and Zero who had been standing nearby talking to Flynn and Signas.

"Is something wrong at the ski resort?" X asked as he approached.

"Toshihiko says there are some interesting guests there that asked specifically for you, and that you and Zero would definitely recognize them. I'll put up a live communication feed." The operator switched the call over to one of the large screens. Toshihiko's smiling face along with Blizzard Buffalo's large exterior came into view instantly.

"Hey X!" The boy waved enthusiastically.

"Toshihiko, it's good to see you and Buffalo. Is everything okay there?"

"Well, these folks here asked about you. Said you and Zero would know them." The boy and the bison Reploid moved out of the way of the transmission and two familiar faces came into view. Zero went over to join them as he heard his name called.

"Yuri and Estelle!" Zero said, which brought Flynn over quickly.

"I'm so glad to see you two!" Flynn smiled with relief.

"Likewise man. Can't believe we ended up doing this again." Yuri let out a bit of a sigh, which the knight quickly reciprocated with his own.

"No kidding."

"I'm relieved to see you well, Flynn. We've been very worried about you." Estelle remarked, wearing a very troubled look on her face.

"Forgive me Princess Estellise, my intention was not to go disappearing into another world again. I'm afraid to say I've yet to locate any sign of Rita though."

"Well, while we haven't managed to locate her either, we do have a confirmed report that she was fine the last time she was seen."

"Hm? Seen by who?"

"Someone who got transported to Terca Lumireis and managed to bring us here." Following the princess's statement, a moment of unsettling silence passed. Then, Crystal Snail made himself known at that moment, which made X's face go deathly white with shock.

"Crystal Snail!" He shouted. This instantly earned the attention of everyone else in the command center. There the mollusk Reploid stood, as if the Second Maverick Outbreak had never happened, completely fine and fully functioning. It took a moment for it to register in everyone's minds.

"Greetings Maverick Hunter X. You've made friends with some interesting humans indeed."

"Yeah..." X wasn't really sure what else to say at the moment. He was looking at someone he had destroyed before, someone he had been plagued with visions of recently, someone he had wanted to understand back then. And yet...

"It is quite unusual to speak with someone who was presumed dead, Crystal Snail." Zero chimed in. He obviously saw things as they were presently, and considering the Portalstone incident, talking with someone who had been dead previously didn't surprise him anymore. Of course, this current chain of events had nothing to do with the Portalstone whatsoever.

"Believe me when I say I wasn't expecting to return like this." Snail replied, his facial expression not changing.

"In any case," Signas broke in, "I will have transport arranged to bring all of you here. It would be best to discuss all of this in person. Please wait for us there." The connection was cut after that, and the commander wasted no time in getting a transport vehicle ready.

Save for Zero, the rest of the base had trouble taking in what they had just seen. Mavericks were generally labeled as "retired", the term used to refer to those who were taken down by the Hunters permanently, and just as quickly forgotten. While Sigma had been a clear example of that which defied the norm again and again, he had had outside help in the past; something always remained of him after every defeat in order for him to make his repeat performances. Sigma's case had nothing to do with bending the laws of existence.

"X, try not to let Snail's presence here unnerve you. I know you had your hangups over what happened with him in the past, but he's apparently alive now." He felt Zero's hand on his shoulder. X was silent for a moment in response to that. However, something else bothered him.

"...Zero, don't you think it's weird both Magna Quartz and Crystal Snail have come back? They were from the Second Maverick Outbreak and both of them were stationed in the Energen Mine. Not to mention the fact Magna Quartz has powers it shouldn't have and our friends from one of the many possible worlds out there have been dragged into it."

"You're saying there's a connection between all of them?"

"At this point, I don't know, but I don't like it." The blue Maverick Hunter said with a serious tone.

"I don't either, but for the time being we need to deal with the situation as it develops. We'll figure this out. Considering we've dealt with Sigma _and_ the Portalstone, this'll probably be easier in comparison." Zero said in his usual cool tone, trying to reassure his friend, but inside he wasn't quite sure what to make of any of it.

**Later, in the meeting room at Maverick Hunter HQ...**

With the arrival of Yuri, Estelle and Crystal Snail, Signas wasted no time in getting everyone together to pool all they had been able to make of current developments. Put into the same mixing bowl, nothing added up at all. There still wasn't enough information to make sense of why Magna Quartz suddenly gained such incredible power, or even why it and Crystal Snail had been brought back from the dead. Further still was what could have possibly been such a catalyst for these events.

"There are just too many key factors we don't yet know." Signas said after the meeting had adjourned.

"And both Rita and Magna Quartz are still missing." Flynn added.

"I didn't think we'd be able to make much out of what we know so far," Zero sighed, "given all of this happened in just the last day or so."

"I can only hope the next time Magna Quartz warps, the two of them are safely brought here." Estelle's face wore a look of complete anguish. It was obvious Rita's disappearance was getting to her. Crystal Snail looked at the princess and felt the same. Deep inside, it hurt him deeply that he had become separated from his dear friend and that he had been unable to do anything about it.

_If only none of this never happened..._ He mused in a very dark corner of his mind.

"In the meantime, I'll have accommodations made for all of you. Friends of X and Zero are welcome here." The Maverick Hunter base commander spoke up.

"Thank you, Commander Signas. We're greatly in your debt, sir." Flynn saluted. "We'd also be happy to help you with whatever work you need done. We don't want to seem ungrateful, right Yuri?"

"Yeah..." Yuri's response was subdued. It was hard for Flynn to tell if Yuri didn't really want to help or if he was just as anguished as Estelle was in regards to Rita.

"I forgot to mention this, but our blastia apparently work in X's world." The imperial knight tried to change the subject. This did get Yuri and Estelle's attention a bit.

"Strange how that's a factor, yet again. Our blastia shouldn't be functioning anymore at all. We gave up their power to defeat the Adephagos." Yuri pondered.

"The same thing happened with the Portalstone incident. Despite our blastia shouldn't have been working at the time either, they still functioned like normal."

"Probably just another element of traveling between different worlds. I guess we should be grateful for it."

"Crystal Snail..." X piped up at last. The mollusk Reploid looked at him. "Do you mind if I talk with you for a bit?"

"I have no objections." He replied plainly. Zero signaled to the members of Brave Vesperia and motioned toward the door. Yuri nodded, knowing this was personal between them, and rose from his seat to leave, followed by Estelle and Flynn. Zero and Signas exited as well, reducing the room's occupancy to two.

A very long and awkward silence passed between the two. X wanted to say something first, but he had a great deal of difficult trying to form the words.

"Does it bother you that I'm alive before you now?" Snail said, surprising X a little with his question.

"No, that's not it. What bothers me is that...in the past, when we fought, I never got a chance to tell you."

"Tell me what?"

"That I understood your feelings back then. When I destroyed Magna Quartz, you were in such pain. You froze me with your Crystal Hunter, but I could still hear you speaking. I understood why it...she meant so much to you. I wanted to apologize for not realizing that sooner and for putting you through that anguish. Back then, I was afraid of dying. I retaliated out of fear and took your life. I know I don't deserve to be forgiven for what I did to you, but I..."

Before X could finish, Crystal Snail held his hand up to interrupt him. "In the time I spent in that mysterious dimension with Magna Quartz after the two of us were revived, I felt only elation that I could be with her. Nothing else mattered. To be honest, regardless of how strange it was, it gave me an opportunity to be with her and only her. I felt no more sorrow, no more pain, and I was satisfied with that. But now, events outside of my understanding have robbed me of my beloved radiance again and I must do everything in my power to get her back."

"Snail, you don't have to do it alone." X replied, trying to be supportive. "You're among allies, and friends. We'll help you get Magna Quartz back."

Snail looked at him for a moment. "It's not like I'm the only one who has a stake in this. Those humans from Terca Lumireis have long since become involved. I'm not about to stop them from helping me." He rose from his chair and headed toward the door to exit as well, but stopped for a moment to look back at the Maverick Hunter. "I can tell a lot has happened to you since our battle back then. You've become stronger, X." The automatic door opened as Crystal Snail entered the hallway. Before he completely vanished from view, he said, "Let's just let the past stay buried in that old mine."

Left alone in the meeting room, X closed his eyes and smiled, thinking to himself. _Thank you, Crystal Snail, for giving me another chance._

**Later that night...**

Yuri lay awake, looking up at the ceiling of the room he and Flynn had been given. He looked at his hand and clenched it tight. _Amazing how we got dragged into another mess like this. You'd almost think it was a bad joke or something._ He tried to close his eyes and at least get some sleep. He smirked when he thought of how Rita would deal with strangers in another world. _Hopefully she's not being a pain in the ass to some random folks, but I should try being realistic._

Before Yuri could settle in for the night, the base rocked rather violently as if something had struck the whole complex with a giant hammer. Flynn was rattled awake in the next bed.

"What's going on!?" He yelled out over the noise. A warning klaxon sounded along with a message from HQ's system.

**[Attention all Maverick Hunter personnel: hostile units attacking outer perimeter. Engage immediately.]**

"That answer your question?" Yuri said as he reached for his sword. The two of them exited out of their room into the hall. "Check on Estelle, I'll go see what our uninvited guests want."

"Right!" Flynn took off to where the princess was quartered while Yuri dashed off to find X and Zero.

_Some much for a peaceful night to clear my head._ He thought as he entered the command center. Yuri looked around for the two Maverick Hunters, but couldn't locate them. Realizing they may have already been dispatched to deal with the problem outside, he confirmed with one of the navigators at the consoles.

"Yes, they're already occupied with the attackers."

"Thought so. I'm going out to back them up!" Yuri took off quickly and headed for the main entrance area, having remembered it from when he and the others were escorted inside earlier that day. Just as he found it, he saw Crystal Snail standing in the area, looking outside at the battle. "Something wrong there?"

The mollusk Reploid looked to the black-haired human and said, "They're certainly a noisy bunch, aren't they?"

"Don't feel like getting involved?" The question didn't phase Snail, but the Reploid knew Yuri was asking the right one. "No one's asking you to do their job, but I plan on helping them, and I'm sure Estelle and Flynn will do the same. So what about you?"

"I didn't plan on going back to the battlefield." Just as Snail said that, a large explosion went off outside and shook the two of them to their knees for a moment.

"No one's blaming you for feeling that way. But it looks like it's a crazy mess out there right now. X, Zero and the rest of the Hunters could probably use the help. These guys seem pretty relentless." A short minute of silence passed between them.

"Yuri!" Estelle's voice rang out from behind as both she and Flynn arrived on scene, armed with their weapons and shields.

"How's it looking out there?" Flynn asked.

"Pretty bad. A big blast went off just now. I'm hearing some nasty screams, so I'm guessing that's bad." Yuri replied sarcastically, though it wasn't directed at Flynn.

"I should get out there and heal the wounded!" Estelle took off immediately.

"Lady Estellise! Hold on!" Flynn followed right behind. Yuri looked one last time at Snail, who didn't look like he was going to change his mind, and ran outside as well. Crystal Snail looked at his hands and wondered to himself.

_Magna Quartz, if I sully my hands with blood again, won't it mean I'll have lost what little radiance you've given me? Do I dare stain the light you gave me?_

**Outer Perimeter of Maverick Hunter Base...**

The Maverick Hunters had already identified the unit that had been attacking the place so heavily with explosives and high caliber energy weapons: remnants of Amblygonite Hydra's personal troops. It was clear what they were here for.

"We need to break the boss out! Head for the prison compound!" One of Hydra's men said. The Reploids who made up this unit consisted of many grunt enemies X and Zero had fought in the past. Some of them had taken their loyalty to the extreme by having symbols of the actual hydra from Greek mythology emblazoned on the sides of their weaponry and other combat gear. The three members of Brave Vesperia scanned around and each found places they could help the Hunters out. With only a silent nod to each other, they split up and moved out.

"Trying to free Hydra? Not on my watch!" Zero declared as he brought his Z-Saber down on an unsuspecting trooper, ending him.

"Your boss is too dangerous to let roam free!" X fired a few plasma shots into the enemy crowd to scatter them.

"That I can agree with!" Flynn's voice was heard as the imperial knight caught a trooper about to ambush X from behind. With a shout of "Tiger Blade", Flynn slashed the enemy upward into the air with his blade and brought it down with a strong downward slash, completely disabling his target.

"Flynn! Then..."

"Yes, Yuri and Lady Estellise are helping as well, X. We won't let you do this alone."

"Right, thanks. There's still plenty of them running around though. I didn't realize Hydra had so many loyal followers."

"We can worry about that later. For now, we stop them from trying to free their leader." The two of them nodded to each other and took off in different directions to resume the counterattack.

Elsewhere, Yuri was already mixing it up with several troopers at once, proving he was quite capable of handling several of them at a time. He flung an Azure Edge projectile at one enemy and quickly turned around to nail the one behind him with a Lone Wolf Charge, sending the unsuspecting Hydra soldier flying with a blast of energy in the image of a wolf. Throwing his sword twirling into the air as his style was famous for, he ran to the enemy on his left and executed a series of rapid punches with Brutal Fang, sending the soldier crumpling to the ground. Yuri then skillfully reclaimed his spinning blade and ran to the last opponent on his right to execute Destruction Field; a short flip forward followed by a heavy slam of his sword into the ground at the target's feet and the fool was sent into the air from the fiery impact, landing like a discarded rag doll a few feet away.

"Not bad there, Yuri." The compliment came from Zero, who had caught sight of the human's one-on-four battle just moments ago. The Hunter quickly cut down another of Hydra's overzealous troops while simply approaching. "Were you holding back before during the Portalstone incident?"

"Nah, just didn't feel like getting completely serious." Yuri returned.

"I hear you. Most of those foes were just warmups." Zero said. Clearly, the two swordsmen knew what constituted a decent fight for both of them and it seemed this invasion of Maverick Hunter HQ fell into that category. "I might have to use some actual techniques on these bozos."

"Have they made any progress to where their boss is being held?"

"Not at the moment, but they're pretty fierce about it. Let's take out the advancing force over there. I don't like the fact they're messing around with plasma-charged rocket launchers."

"You got it!" With that, Yuri and Zero took off immediately. A bright flash of light emanated from nearby as they made their way toward the enemies. "Looks like they made Estelle mad."

Over toward the eastern section of the base, the princess of Zaphias was surrounded by an entire plethora of Amblygonite Hydra's soldiers. She stood her ground valiantly, mace and shield in hand, and gracefully dodged attempts to strike her down. Each enemy that approached her was met with enough force to send them reeling.

"I was trained by knights. I won't lose!" Estelle then began to chant a spell, something the enemy had no clue about it and so were left wondering what she was doing. "O holy water, rain down your power on us! Holy Rain!" She raised her mace to the sky, making it look as if she were parting the heavens, and shining beams of light came crashing down upon every single enemy, making short work of them in seconds. Looking around to see that there were no stragglers, she headed off to where she could see a large regiment of Reploids trying to attack one section of the base with considerable artillery.

Within a few minutes, X, Zero, Yuri, Estelle and Flynn had made it to the section of the base where the largest collection of Hydra's troops were firing off high-powered explosive rounds at the wall of the complex. Other Maverick Hunters were there, most of them were B-ranks led in tandem by an A-rank, doing their best to keep the enemy occupied. However, considerable damage had already been inflicted to the structure behind them and if something wasn't done soon, it would spell disaster.

"Give us a status report!" X shouted as they joined the defense team behind some barriers.

"Sir! They've reduced the prison section's outer structural integrity considerably. We're doing everything we can to hold them off, but they're using some high caliber weapons to punch those holes." The A-rank Hunter gave his report. They looked at the outer walls of the containment facility and could see that there had been some severe damage done so far.

"We defend this position with everything we've got. No holding back!" Zero announced to everyone. All present nodded their heads.

Yuri, Estelle, Flynn and X prepared their weaponry as they joined the B-rank Hunters in defending the wall.

"It's now or never." Flynn said as he gripped his sword tight. The trio of Brave Vesperia came dashing out from behind the barrier followed immediately by Zero and the A-rank Hunter while X and the B-ranks provided covering fire from afar. Estelle and Flynn had their shields held out to block the enemy's fire while Yuri and Zero closed in with their blades, trying to shut down the enemy's offense.

Hydra's loyal men didn't plan on taking this punishment for long as one of them signaled to his comrade to fire another round from the large cannon weapon they had brought with them. Judging from its size, it was definitely the tool with which they had been punching dents into the wall of the prison complex. A very audible humming could be heard as the barrel of the cannon began glowing with an incredible vivid green hue.

"Commander Zero, that weapon...!" One of the B-ranks shouted.

"Damn, we can't stop it in time! Yuri, move out of the way!" Zero's voice came loud and clear to him as he jumped to the side. Estelle, Flynn and the B-ranks ran to the left and right respectively to get out of the line of fire. However, X was the only one who wasn't dodging. Instead, he kept his X-Buster pointed at the cannon, intent on stopping it with his signature Charge Shot.

"X, what are you doing!? The cannon's output is too high! You can't stop that with your Buster!" Signas's voice came through his helmet's communicator.

"I have to try at least, Commander! If that thing manages to make another dent, Hydra will be free!" He put forth as much energy as he could muster into his shot and fired a powerful plasma blast at the high caliber weapon; in response, the cannon fired off its own bullet, a massive green laser beam which consumed X's Charge Shot like it wasn't even there and headed right for the wall behind him. "Damn it!" He managed to roll out of the way just as the beam struck; a silent moment passed and the entire back of the building burst into chunks of rubble that rained down in random places.

At just that moment, everyone watched with bated breath as a very large and powerful figure came through while the smoke cleared from around the huge hole; Amblygonite Hydra had entered the scene. One of his subordinates quickly shot by and used a small scalpel-like device to disarm the power shackles on both his arms and the large one holding all his heads together. Once the massive manacle fell to the ground with a thud, all seven of Hydra's heads hissed monstrously in unison; it was all the encouragement his forces needed as his men broke out into a raucous cheer.

Yuri and Zero were the first to recover from the shock of the impact, followed by Estelle and Flynn, who brushed off some of the bits of debris that had managed to mark them.

"So this is the boss, huh?" Yuri asked.

"Yeah, real screw-loose. Watch your back, because his heads like to try embedding their fangs in it."

"Well well, Maverick Hunters, what's this? So you've recruited more humans to your side? Didn't know you were taking applications!" Hydra's main head, One, spoke raucously, earning some laughter from his men. It was as if the team had suddenly been surrounded by a gang of biker punks who only felt strong because their boss was barking loudly.

"Damn it, not this nonsense again." Zero muttered, recalling the first time he dealt with Blast Hornet, who had behaved in much the same way.

"Just...just what are your intentions, Hydra?" X's voice spoke up from nearby. He had managed to crawl out from the large portion of the building's debris that landed on him and stand up. "What do you and your men intend to accomplish?"

"Did you forget already? The completion of my supreme naval force!" Two shrieked out.

"But what did you intend to do with a navy of your own?" Flynn asked boldly.

"Isn't it obvious!? Control the world's oceans of course!" Four roared out, his violent temper no less quelled from having been imprisoned. "The treasures of the deep blue belong to one who's truly the king out there!"

"Typical Maverick talk," Zero spat, obviously having grown bored with Hydra's prattle, "and there's only one way to deal with that."

"Yup, only cure for that kind of stupidity is death." Yuri chimed in, echoing Raven's line from long ago, the one that "inspired" him to kill Cumore.

"I'd love to stick around and crush all of you, but I've got other plans. Don't worry though, you'll be the first to know about them!" Five exclaimed.

"You're not getting away!" Flynn protested as he flung a Demon Fang at the insane Reploid, but the massive beast jumped out of the way and landed over by his men.

"So impatient." Seven said snidely. As always, he was the only one of Hydra's heads that had any semblance of calm and rationality. He climbed atop the large assault vehicle carrying the powerful energy cannon that had freed him from his cell. "We're done here. Move out!" The Maverick said to his men as they began to withdraw from the base. At that point, the Maverick Hunters and Brave Vesperia had no choice but to let them go. The base had already received severe damage from the high caliber weapons and the injured needed to be tended to.

"Damn it!" Flynn cursed as he punched a part of the fractured wall nearby.

"We've got major cleanup to do. X, you and Estelle go help the wounded on the eastern side. Yuri and Flynn, take the western section. I'm going to report to Signas. Let's get this sorted out before morning." Zero ordered, as in command as always during the rough spots.

"Got it." Yuri said as he gestured to Flynn to follow. The knight was obviously taking it personally because despite the fact they wanted to help the Maverick Hunters, they weren't able to prevent Hydra's escape. Zero understood his frustration, but it couldn't be helped at this point. They would be ready for the next time.

**Later in the early morning...**

Yuri, Estelle and Flynn were treated to some breakfast after spending the entire night tending to the injured, their stomachs grateful for the nourishment. Thankfully, the Hunter base had ordered supplies in case they would need to help human refugees during Maverick attacks. X and Zero had already finished their report to Signas, and the commander wished to see everyone in the command center regarding what to do about Amblygonite Hydra as soon as possible. When all were present and accounted for, Signas had Douglas, the Maverick Hunters' resident engineer, explain the schematics of the powerful weapon used in last night's attack.

"It's definitely on a similar scale to the military's top secret weaponry. Whoever Hydra got this from, they're definitely dealing with smuggled stuff. Real black market business types." Douglas said as he looked over the holo-screen's image of the cannon.

"That's not good. I shudder to think who even has access to forbidden tech like that and actually has the gall to sell it to Mavericks." Zero said sternly with his arms crossed.

"The plasma-charged rocket launchers, and the ion incendiary grenades they were chucking around like party favors, come from more of the same. If Hydra and his men have toys like this, it's no stretch of the imagination to say that getting parts for that ship he was talking about before would be a snap."

"We'd have to shut down his suppliers, but we don't have the time or resources to look into that. If we're dealing with black marketeers, then they'll be smart to keep their tracks covered."

"Right, which means we need to deal with Hydra and shut down his operation so he doesn't acquire any more of these illegal items." X stated.

"Hydra is now classified as a wanted fugitive and high priority Maverick. You'll have your hands full with regular incidents, but this one will be at the top of your list. If any of this hydra's heads start biting, all A and S-rank Hunters are on immediate deployment. Understood?" Signas looked around at the command center's occupants, who all acknowledged him with "Yes sir!" before he left.

Yuri, Estelle and Flynn spoke to X and Zero regarding last night's attack for a few minutes until someone else abruptly stepped into the command room and joined their conversation.

"Good morning, Mr. Snail." Estelle said politely.

"Good morning." He returned. His decision to avoid being involved in repelling the invasion still weighed on him, but he kept it to himself. Nobody said anything about it either.

"It's terrible Hydra turned out like this." X said at length.

"It can't be helped. Regardless of the good work he did in the 6th Naval Unit, he's a Maverick now and already ranted on about some pretty insane ambitions last night."

"Controlling all the world's oceans...that _is_ insane. No one person controls any part of nature. Nature is its own master." Estelle said, obviously echoing her own personal feelings regarding the elemental spirits back home on Terca Lumireis.

"That's right, and that's why he must be stopped." Zero agreed.

"If only we had more help." Flynn pondered. "From my understanding, the Maverick Hunters are stretched thin as it is with general incidents."

"Too bad we don't have any further leads regarding Rita." Yuri said, changing the subject to something he felt Brave Vesperia should be more focused on, and then realized the mention of Rita's name might have caused Estelle to worry more.

Just then, as if circumstance itself was listening in, klaxons went off and the base was on high alert. Navigators and Operators were quickly analyzing the incoming data. According to the advanced satellite feed, an enormous amount of energy had just surged up in a coastal area far to the north of Abel City. The readings were unbelievably large and far beyond the norm, which could only mean...

"What's the situation?" Signas's voice came loud and clear as his face showed up on visual communication hologram.

"Commander Signas, we've detected a massive swell of energy on the northern coast! It's the same reading we got from the Energen Mine previously!" Alia said.

"Magna Quartz!" Crystal Snail announced almost exaltedly.

"Are there any life signs located near or around the area?" X quickly asked the trio.

"Yes, two of them within close proximity!" Layer responded.

"One of those has to be Rita!" Estelle said elatedly.

"Yeah, but two would mean...someone else came with her." Yuri stated with his arms crossed.

"We can worry about that when we get there! We're moving out now!" Zero shouted.

Outside, X, Zero, Yuri, Estelle, Flynn and Crystal Snail quickly boarded a Bee Blader transport. They were joined by Blast Hornet of the Special 0 Unit, and a comrade of Zero's who previously had to be stopped during the Dopple Town Incident. Hornet had been brought under control by the Sigma Virus, but Zero managed to snap him out of it with one good shock to the Reploid's system. Since rejoining the Maverick Hunters, Blast Hornet had grown a great deal stronger and was a more valuable member of the team than ever.

"Hornet, what's our ETA for reaching the coastal front?" X asked.

"Top speed, five minutes."

"Good, we need to get there fast. No telling when Magna Quartz could end up warping randomly again."

The Bee Blader took off and reached its maximum output immediately.

**Unnamed northern coastal area...**

As promised, they arrived at the location in the specified timeframe. Blast Hornet remained with the transport for immediate departure once Magna Quartz was secured. The party arrived at the point the signal was detected: a peaceful beach just outside of a natural forest zone. There, standing tall in her prismatic glory, was Magna Quartz situated in a spot close to the waters. And at her base were two unconscious figures.

"Rita!" Estelle exclaimed.

"So that's Rita? Who's the other one?" X asked as they quickly made their way to their objective. Just before they could close the distance any further, a very large and familiar figure leapt out of the water. This same figure immediately took possession of the situation, literally, as it got its hands on Magna Quartz.

"Well well, look what we have here!" The familiar voice of Amblygonite Hydra's third head, Three, declared as his troops emerged from seemingly everywhere around X and the others.

"What the hell?" Yuri cursed. "What are you doing here, Tweedle Too Many?"

"Not every day you pick up an energy signal like the one this beauty here emits." He patted Magna Quartz with his left hand. "Since my ultimate warship needs a large power source, well let's just say the timing couldn't have been more perfect!" This got Crystal Snail absolutely furious.

"Take your repulsive hand off of her, you wretch!" The mollusk Reploid practically spat.

"Who do you think you're talking to, you squat little piece of crap!?" Four hissed loudly.

"Wait a moment. Is that Crystal Snail?" Seven asked, looking at him carefully.

"It is! The creepy little weirdo who was obsessed with Magna Quartz back during Sigma's second rebellion!" Six announced as if he expected the whole world to hear it.

"What an awful thing to say! You're terrible!" Estelle pointed her mace threateningly at Hydra.

"I thought the little bastard was offed by X. How's he even alive?"

"You should be more concerned about us, Hydra." Zero said, as he readied his Z-Saber. "Move away from the crystal or we'll have to take all of you down."

"That so? Well, I doubt you'll be in much of a position to make threats when I've got these two as hostages." Hydra picked up the unconscious Rita and Jade in each hand, holding them up by their arms. "Oh and I've got one more surprise for you. Call him in!" He gestured to one of his men, who used a communication device to send a signal into the water nearby.

"What's your game, Hydra?" X demanded.

"You'll see soon. In the meantime, how about we have some fun?" Hydra put two of his heads close to Rita and Jade, the fangs just shy of the neck. "Which one of these two should I snap in half first?"

**To be continued...**

Well that ends the final prologue. Next time I'll be getting into the main story. In addition, I'm trying to develop Crystal Snail as an important character too since the manga version of him was interesting. He was unique in that his self-loathing and obsession defined him, but I'll leave that for another time.

Yuri's nickname for Hydra is obviously inspired by his nicknames for those two dorks, Boccos and Adecor.

The reason it hasn't registered for Hydra that the large crystal he's attempting to steal is Magna Quartz is because he'd never seen it before.

Blast Hornet being alive and well is, like with Buffalo, due to the fact I'm working off of the _Rockman X3_ manga, which did not kill off most of the bosses like the game did. You'll definitely be seeing more former bosses on the side of justice in due time.


	6. New Allies and Old Foes

Author's Note: Well everyone, it's been quite a while huh? A lot has happened to me in the past months and that's why a new entry to the story has taken so long. My job had kept me busy and a bit tired at times, so it hasn't been easy adding to the first chapter. In addition, said job is over now (as in I'm no longer working there). It's been a difficult conclusion to accept currently, but you're not here to read about that. You're here to read some fan fiction no doubt. What really has me fired up is that my writing passion has been reignited thanks to the announcement of _Project X Zone 2_. Yes, you read that right, the biggest crossover RPG on a handheld is getting a sequel this fall and that's enough to get a crossover nut like me back in the seat with renewed vigor. Here it is folks! Now we kick off the main story into high gear.

Chapter 1: "New Allies and Old Foes"

**Unnamed northern coastal area...**

It was a tense scenario; Hydra was looking for even the barest twitch from the opposite side to destroy Rita or Jade while X and the others were looking for any opening they could in order to get them out of that situation.

"No one make any sudden moves. Their safety takes priority." Zero said in as low a voice as possible.

"Any ideas?" Yuri whispered back. The group's eyes looked around; they were surrounded on all sides by Hydra's various troops, who were armed to the teeth with a lot of the black market weapons Douglas had pointed out to them previously. At present, there weren't many available options that would result in positive outcomes.

"I take it you're not going to try anything?" Seven asked them from afar. "Smart move. You wouldn't want these two to become statistics, now would you?" Despite being the only rational head among the bunch, even he was capable of saying some cruel and blackhearted things. Coupled with his calm demeanor, that actually made him the most terrifying of Amblygonite Hydra's seven heads.

"We'll just be taking this beauty with us!" Three said with insane delight. Crystal Snail was burning with rage inside. His beloved Magna Quartz was only a feet away from him and yet he could do nothing to prevent her being taken from him again.

"Zero, Snail looks like he's about to lose it. We need to do something." X said.

"Already on it." The red Maverick Hunter replied confidently. _Time for you to make your entrance._

From out of the nearby trees, Blast Hornet came darting out at high speed. With the improvements made to his systems, his flight and combat capabilities had been increased significantly. The velocity of his entrance alone was intense as he shot forward at high speed and managed to knock Hydra down, his hold on both Magna Quartz and his captives lost. The impact sent the Maverick flying a fair way as X and Zero dashed forward to catch Rita and Jade respectively. Brave Vesperia and Crystal Snail followed behind them and now the group was in control of things at last. Estelle and Flynn worked in tandem and used their healing artes to revive the two unconscious humans.

"Nicely done, Vice Captain Hornet. I knew I could rely on you for this." Zero said as he took a position out in front to keep Hydra's troops away.

"Not a problem, Captain Zero." The hornet Reploid floated down, his wings flapping quickly for hovering. The team's attention was drawn back to Hydra who was being helped up by his men.

"Never mind me, attack those bastards!" Four commanded.

"We need to keep this area safe," Flynn said, "and keep them away from it." Yuri and Zero nodded in agreement. The three swordsmen took off to meet Hydra's troops head on while X, Snail and Hornet remained with Estelle to keep Magna Quartz, Rita and Jade protected.

"I will never let anyone have Magna Quartz again!" Snail declared in a tone that sounded as romantic as his line. He quickly lobbed several shots of his Crystal Hunter from his mouth at several of the enemies approaching, trapping them in hexagonal crystals once the globules made contact. Blast Hornet followed up with his Parasitic Bomb, launching his bee-shaped explosives; once they latched onto their helpless targets, the bombs detonated, ending them. Hydra's troops began swarming in on the team, but Yuri, Flynn and Zero's swords cleared them aside with little effort. Estelle and X provided support from afar with holy spells and X-Buster shots, disabling any of the enemy's attempts to provide their own long distance support.

The battle raged on for a few minutes, and then the two newcomers to Earth finally opened their eyes.

"Ugh, what the hell is all that racket?" Rita said with a grumble, her mouth feeling dry for some reason, like she hadn't drank any water in days.

"Rita!" Estelle said with delight. The princess quickly lobbed a Holy Lance spell at some of Hydra's troops and quickly retreated back to where her friend was lying near Magna Quartz. "Are you hurt?"

"Estelle? Wait, did I finally make it back to Terca Lumireis?" She looked around at the insane battle taking place on the unfamiliar beach and she quickly drooped. "Of course not, why would it ever be that easy?" The mage added sarcastically.

"I'm so relieved you finally came back to us!" Estelle hugged her, despite it wasn't an appropriate time for it.

"Y...yeah, I'm fine. Really." Rita blushed a little.

"It seems you really are more trouble than you're worth." The familiar voice of Jade Curtiss came to the fore as he too opened his eyes, and didn't look the least bit happy about being dragged to an unknown place.

"Wait, you got warped with me!?" She exclaimed loudly.

"So it would seem. I don't know for certain if what you did at the castle was intentional or not, but nonetheless, it proves you weren't lying at least. However..." Jade looked at the furious chaos that littered the once peaceful beach.

"Yes, we have more pressing matters at hand." Estelle nodded as she rose and turned back to the battle.

"Guess we have to clean this mess up first before we can get anything figured out." Rita got to her feet and brushed the sand off her clothes. However, before anyone else could say or do anything, something very agile came jumping out of the water nearby and landed by Amblygonite Hydra, catching everyone's attention.

"I got your message." The newcomer spoke in a calm, low voice. If it hadn't been enough for X to be shocked at Magna Quartz and Crystal Snail being brought back from the dead and in another world, this had to be the clincher. "And I'm ready to slice and dice! The Destruction God of the Seven Seas is back!" The newcomer's voice instantly became psychotic and boastful as he cackled maddeningly in the moment, as if his return heralded some kind of ancient deity's revival.

"Crush Crawfish." Zero said, though he kept himself quite calm. It was the very same Reploid whose thought patterns were deemed too imperfect to use in battle even before the Second Maverick War broke out and had to be sent away for dismantlement. Unfortunately, he had escaped, murdered Reploids and had further planned to murder as many humans as he could to get his revenge. X had defeated him after a difficult battle back then and the Maverick's body had fallen into the depths of the sea where it supposedly remained all this time. Until now...

"I see you're already acquainted. We found his body lying at the bottom of a trench some time ago. Figured he'd be pretty helpful to our cause." Seven stated nonchalantly. "Oh, and we gave him a few upgrades to make his reunion with you a little more interesting."

Hydra indeed spoke the truth as Crush Crawfish was not the same as X and Zero remembered him. Instead of his usual red color scheme with silvery blue accents, he was green with yellow accents, including his pincers, which had an added feature: two rows of serrated edges resembling the tips of a fine-toothed saw now lined the interior. One could only imagine what the damage would be to a human or Reploid caught in those.

"Well well, what do have we here? If isn't that wretched little X! I owe you some major payback from before!" Crawfish looked toward the one who had ended his life before and seethed with both rage and excitement inside. His attention then turned to Yuri and the others. "And you've brought an entire group of humans for me to mince and dice up! How considerate of you! Now I can finish the ceremony from years ago!" The crawfish Reploid snapped his scissor blades in delight. He was just the same now as he was then; no, if anything he had become even more insane.

"Stuff it, you damn Maverick!" Zero lost his cool at last. Anyone who knew him well meant he was getting sick of an enemy's nonsense and ready to cut loose without holding back. "If you're back in action, we'll just take you down like we did before. There's nothing more to it than that!"

"Aw, don't say that. It's been such a long time, my blades are itching to meet you again!" The moment was sudden, but Crawfish launched his left scissor blade at the team, who all dodged out of the way quickly as it made a beeline for them and hit a part of the beach behind them, causing a major upheaval of sand upon impact. When the sand settled, there was a sizable crater left in the wake of the attack.

_That level of power. _X thought. His optic camera analyzed Crawfish's system specs, and he was left shocked at the output. The Maverick's combat output had risen to more than quadruple what it was years ago. It was more than enough cause for concern. "Everyone! Be on your guard around this guy! His strength is far beyond what it was when I fought him!" X said to his allies the instant he picked up the 20000rp and 38000rp readings.

"You'd best worry about yourself, my friend." Crawfish's voice said in a deathly quiet tone as he was already in front of the Maverick Hunter in that instant. Nobody had seen him move and it was apparent from their shocked expressions. The newly revived Maverick then jammed his right claw hard into X's abdomen with a good deal of force, sending him flying into one of the trees resting just outside of where the forest met the beach.

"X!" Yuri shouted in response. Crawfish leapt back to where Hydra was just as quickly as he had moved to incapacitate the Maverick Hunter.

Jade had already composed himself and scanned around, taking stock of enemy positions as well as their capabilities. "Well I suppose we'd best try to wrap this up so I can get some answers. Rita, was it? If we can take out those troops lining the flank of that particular area over there, we can disable their long range support."

The genius mage of Aspio was silent a moment and realized he was asking her to assist him with casting artes. She then stood next to him, ready to go. Rita was surprised that this was one case they both agreed on without the snarky replies.

"Have any good thunder-based artes?" Jade asked in an almost playful voice that masked a subtly knowing undertone. "They say you should always get your feet wet when you haven't learned anything, but for once that might be the worst suggestion ever."

"I know just the one." Rita replied with an equally sinister grin, as the two began casting.

"O darkened storm cloud, loose thy blade and run mine enemies through!" Jade chanted as the fonic glyph appeared at his feet and began rotating clockwise slowly.

"O righteous will, let fall thy sword of lightning upon those who bear fault!" Rita wove her spell's formula with her scroll weapon.

"Thunder Blade!" They both shouted together as two large swords of brilliant lightning shot down from the sky and jammed themselves into the water. The resulting impact sent out powerful surges of electricity that hit every single one of Hydra's soldiers who had been firing upon the party from afar. The electrocuted Reploids collapsed after their systems shut down from the double blast of voltage. This led to an immediate ceasing of all combat, stunned eyes taking in what they just witnessed.

"What...the...hell? What the _hell_!?" Four hissed violently. "I just don't get it!"

"Just who are these humans the Hunters keep digging up!?" Three spat.

"I don't know, but this is becoming a lot more interesting." Crawfish cackled with delight. "Let's just see how good they really are." The mad Reploid snapped his scissor blades together.

"Don't get so caught up in your personal mayhem that you forget why we had you called in." Seven, ever the voice of reason, stated.

"The power source, right? We just need to clear the _weeds_ surrounding it." His murderous intent was all too clear. "I'll finally get my chance to test out these new upgrades and tear some humans up! Hyah hah hah hah!" With his prey sighted, he surged forward with all the frenzy of a tsunami.

"Estelle, watch out!" Zero shouted. The princess's guard was up, but Crush Crawfish was moving like a blur. The crawfish-based Reploid brought his right scissor arm up from below with a good deal of force, but the girl used her shield in time to stop it. The impact produced a very audible clang from the two metals clashing; Estelle felt something was wrong as an intense pain shot through her wrist.

"Ugh!" She pulled back from Crawfish, who saw this as an opportunity to follow up. However, Yuri and Flynn were there to halt any further plans he had.

"Bastard!" Yuri swore, bringing his sword down on the Maverick's head while Flynn was coming at him from below, ready to belt out his Beast arte. However, the aquatic-based Reploid quickly dodged both of their attempts with a nimble backflip that put a good deal of distance between him and the humans. Crawfish had evaded so rapidly that it was hard to believe. X had seen it from where he was, slumped against the tree that was the unfortunate victim of his hurtling impact.

_His speed is insane. There's almost no time to react when he strikes, and not enough time to land a blow either._ The Maverick Hunter looked down at the damage that had been inflicted on him; it was disconcerting him to see such an insane Reploid have such a frightening level of strength, especially one he had defeated before. His abdominal region had an open wound in it, and electricity was crackling out a bit. _I've got to stand! Damn it!_ Slowly he rose, using the damaged tree for support, as X reached for his helmet's communicator.

"Well, looks like that one could be a problem." Jade stated matter-of-factly. "If he's able to dodge so fluidly, landing a direct attack won't work."

"Then what do you suggest?" Flynn asked without turning around to address the Malkuth colonel directly. It was more important to keep an eye on their enemy at present.

"We need to halt his movements." Zero said. "His speed is currently at a level that merely trading blows with him will result in all of us getting cut down. And I don't intend to make some rookie mistake like that."

"Correct. Is there anything you can tell me about him?" The Necromancer adjusted his glasses.

"When X fought him previously, his data stated Crawfish was weak against electricity. His systems weren't designed to handle overloads from mishandled energy currents."

"Are you sure you idiots have time to be standing there chatting when I can easily slice you to bits!" Crawfish's deranged voice screeched out of the blue.

"Who are you calling an idiot!? You're the only idiot here, you damn wacko!" Rita returned, which probably wasn't the most appropriate response to give to their adversary.

"I'm going to enjoy making chunky meat pieces out of you first, girlie!" Crush dove right at her with a psychotic look in his eyes.

"Rising!" Zero found one unguarded moment in the Maverick's sudden attack and instantly brought his Z-Saber upward, rising into the air while catching his opponent on the blade of his weapon, halting the attempt on Rita's life.

"If his speed is the problem..." Crystal Snail then activated his advanced ability by hiding in his shell and making it spin clockwise quickly; the hypnotic spiral pattern on his shell emitted a vortex of colorful light, slowing down the flow of time around Crawfish's general vicinity.

"Bomb Bee!" Blast Hornet activated his secondary weapon, which surrounded him with small bee-shaped drones. Taking a crazy chance, he flew at the now slowly falling Maverick, getting just close enough for his drones to make direct contact and cause a triple chain explosion. The vice captain then returned to the others.

"Hornet, that was an insane move you pulled." Zero reprimanded. "A close proximity explosive attack requires more elaborate planning than that."

"Sorry Captain, but it was a chance I had to take. I think it got him."

"I wouldn't be so sure." Jade readied his spear, as it materialized out of nowhere, somewhat surprising his new allies with that display; however, this was no time to stand around being impressed. As the Malkuth colonel had pointed out, Crush Crawfish was far from beaten. He emerged from the huge cloud of smoke the Bomb Bees had produced and looked essentially unharmed, save for a few faint dark marks of ash on his body.

"This is insane." Flynn said under his breath.

"What does it take to dent this guy?" Yuri muttered.

"More than you fools have at present!" The voice of Amblygonite Hydra came out rasping and angry as he stood side by side with Crawfish. "I've seen enough. This game is over! We've wasted enough time with you pathetic weaklings as it is!"

"This isn't looking good. It was taking all of us just to hold that shrimp off. Now Tweedle Too Many is joining in too?" Yuri shook his head.

"If he's attacking too, it won't work. We need a defensive line to hold them off." Jade said, adjusting his glasses again.

"What won't work?" Flynn asked. It's obvious the Necromancer had a plan, but he wasn't about to blurt it out with Hydra and Crawfish so nearby to hear.

"A defensive line..." Estelle said quietly, as she cast First Aid on her damaged wrist. The pain wouldn't completely leave as the damage was worse internally than it was externally. At that moment, she suddenly remembered something her sword instructor taught her during her time training.

"Magna Quartz is _mine_!" Hydra then dove at them, intent on claiming his prize, every single one of his heads snapping furiously to remove the enemies barring his path. Crystal Snail was as ready as he could possibly be to defend his companion. Estelle's mind snapped with realization at that instant and she yelled to the mollusk Reploid.

"Mr. Snail, use your weapon!" Her voice rang out to him. Snail glanced at the princess briefly and felt the same realization she had. She had an idea, and he liked it.

"You who would encroach upon others to do them harm..." Estelle started.

"...begone from this sacred fortification!" Snail finished.

"Royal Defending Wall: Castle of Light!" They both yelled at the same time as Estelle raised her mace into the air while Snail retreated into his shell and spun rapidly. The princess of Zaphias's Variable Hex spell arte then combined with the mollusk Reploid's Crystal Hunter in that blinding instant to create a massive castle-shaped crystal around everyone, encompassing the party as well as Magna Quartz.

"What the hell!?" Hydra cursed as he made contact with the newly created structure and crashed hard against it. Crawfish responded by throwing both his scissor blades at full speed; both bounced harmlessly off of it.

"What is this technique?" Even Zero was a bit astonished at what had just happened. He had never seen anything quite like it.

"Estelle, how did you..." Rita was left utterly agape.

"Rita, this is our chance!" Jade shouted to get her attention back. "Thunder Blade once again, this time with all of your power!" He activated his Overlimits, emitting a swirling golden light from his body.

"R...right!" Rita did the same, a powerful light taking the shape of glowing flames around her.

"No! No, not when we're this close!" Five said as Hydra tried to scrape at the crystal castle's exterior, to no avail.

"I, who stand in the full light of the heavens, command thee who opens the gates of hell! Come forth, divine lightning!" As the two of them chanted in unison, a massive glyph appeared on the ground; its radius was absolutely massive, vast enough to cover a large portion of the beach. "This ends now! Indignation!" With a powerful shout, the spell activated.

At that moment, Hydra and Crawfish were blindsided. They had no way of knowing what had befallen them in that instant. As if the heavens themselves were furious with the two Mavericks' actions and behavior, a massive swirling bolt of indescribably powerful lightning came down upon them with not one ounce of remorse. Their cries of pain were drowned out by the roaring thunder and the crackling electricity as Indignation dealt its divine judgment upon them. At last, the two of them were brought to their knees.

Hydra struggled to stand up. He was in complete shock, and for good reason. He had never seen humans wield such insane levels of power. Where did they even get the means to use it? Just who were they?

"We've played this game with you idiots long enough." Zero said suddenly, not really giving the monstrous Maverick time to get his bearings after the massive electrocution. He fired a Z-Buster shot, sending Hydra down again and paralyzing him with a stun setting.

"Lady Estellise and Sir Snail have made it pretty clear that you're not getting Magna Quartz, so why don't you just sit down and behave yourselves now." Flynn added, his comment an order rather than a request; his sword pointed at Crawfish's face made that clear. Overhead, several Bee Bladers made their presence known. X was onboard the lead one, his previous injuries having been temporarily tended to.

"Reinforcements? Damn. Crawfish, retreat!" Seven shouted to his ally.

"Oh no you don't!" Flynn swung his sword down, but Crush Crawfish had moved away too quickly for him to land the strike. The Maverick quickly dove into the water and vanished. Hydra's reserve troops began firing on the Hunters and Brave Vesperia from afar, but aerial support from the Bee Bladers put a stop to that in the following moments. Many of them decided to retreat and also dove into the water with abandon while those who had been hit by Jade and Rita's combined Indignation were left behind. The battle, however it was decided, had been won for now.

As the Bee Bladers descended toward the team, both Estelle and Snail fell to their knees as their crystal castle faded away to nothing. All that was left was a faint twinkling sound that soon ended as well.

"Hey, you two okay?" Yuri knelt down to help the princess while Flynn checked on Snail. They both had apparently expended a great deal of energy with their combination. More likely, it was because it was a new move for both of them and they hadn't yet realized how much energy they should have used.

"My energy reserves just seem to be a bit drained right now." Snail said, checking his internal indicator and noting that indeed a great deal of power had been spent.

"I'm a little tired myself, but it's fine, really." Estelle said, while forcing a smile. Yuri could plainly see she was trying her best not to complain about her wrist injury. The Bladers landed and X made his way over to the others.

"X, you okay? Don't tell me Crawfish's strike was that hard." Zero said, only half joking.

"Sorry. He caught me by surprise with that sucker punch. Had to call for backup since we couldn't spend all night fighting Hydra's troops."

"I can tell. We'd better get back to base so we can get you patched up."

"Estelle needs some medical attention too. That shrimp creep managed to injure her wrist." Yuri stated.

"We have some medical staff trained to help humans too. Let's get Magna Quartz harnessed and we can return to base."

"Inform HQ that we'll be bringing back two more with us." Zero told a nearby Hunter as he powered down his Z-Saber and put the hilt away in its recharging holster.

With Magna Quartz safely secured by four Bee Bladers and the team all loaded up, the group returned to Maverick Hunter HQ, leaving behind the beach that had once been so pristine and untouched. Now it served as a reminder that an intense battle had been fought for the sake of others. Estelle looked down at the scarred sands, torn trees and defiled waters, and immediately hated the sight of it. After having become so in touch with the Spirits back home in her world, it was troubling to see nature being affected in another one entirely. While she was aware it wasn't her world, the image burned itself in her mind a little. Yuri walked over to where she was and saw her gazing sadly at the receding landscape; he knew that look.

_Worrying about others before yourself, again. You can't seem to get rid of your bad habit, can you?_ He thought, knowing it was that concern for others and their situations that had landed her in hot water more than once in the past. However, it was that same concern that made the once naive princess a stronger person. _Don't ever change, Estelle._ Yuri decided to leave her be, knowing she would need time to sort out her feelings.

Crystal Snail, on the other hand, was a different story. He simply gazed at Magna Quartz longingly from the window of the Bee Blader. No one could really tell what he was thinking at the moment.

The battle had left a lasting impression on everyone involved, and they all remained silent as Maverick Hunter HQ approached in the distance.

**To be continued...**

*Hope you've enjoyed this rather action-crazy first chapter. Again, some reference notes to clarify a few things:

*The description I gave of Crush Crawfish's new powered up form is taken from something quite obscure, even by Mega Man X standards: Rockman X Mega Mission. This was a series of what are known as carddass, where people in Japan could get series cards from vending machines to collect. Mega Man X3's cards actually told an original story prior to the events of the game, though it's debatable to me how canon it was considering there was something about an evil version of X in it somewhere and something like that would shake up X worse than knowing Zero was the reason for the original Maverick virus outbreak. Anyway, the description is based on this image of Crawfish's powered up form: . /revision/latest?cb=20080810014558

*Yuri calls Crush Crawfish a shrimp a couple of times. While it just seems like a flat out insult, it's actually a reference to Crawfish's original Japanese name, Scissors Shrimper. For those of you out there who are biology buffs, crawfish and shrimp both belong to the decapod order, so you can see where they were going with this when his named was changed in the U.S. release.

*Jade and Rita have slightly different official words for chanting Indignation, but I chose to have them both go with Jade's version since it's more widely recognized for English speaking Tales fans (plus Rita's recorded English lines weren't officially used in any capacity, they were simply stored in the 360 version's sound files, though they would have been used had the second Mystic Artes been implemented in the 360 version).

*Try to picture some cut-in artwork of Estelle and Crystal Snail's faces for their dual Mystic Arte. Same with Jade and Rita's combined Indignation.


	7. Expanding Sphere

Author's Note: Another chapter that took too long to put up here. This chapter was actually close to completion for a while, and it could have been finished and put up here much sooner, but something came up. There's also been a recent update in my life, but it's too soon to say anything at this point. Anyway, onward to the crossover!

Chapter 2: "Expanding Sphere"

**Maverick Hunter HQ...**

Following the battle that had transpired on the beach against Amblygonite Hydra and the revived Crush Crawfish, X and the others returned with both reports to give and injuries to tend to. Signas had X, Estelle, Crystal Snail, Rita and Jade sent to be examined and treated immediately. Yuri, Flynn, Zero and Blast Hornet remained with the commander to divulge what they had seen. Just as Flynn had earned the attention of the base before with his mention of Magna Quartz's appearance in Terca Lumireis previously, even more shocked expressions were earned as they explained that Hydra had resurrected the once thought-to-be-dead Crush Crawfish. It was an explanation that made the communication room's silence even more deafening.

Layer pulled up information on Crawfish as she and Pallette were not familiar with all of X's past enemies before joining the team. Once the two of them quickly read through his bio, it was understandable why the report of his resurrection was cause for alarm. Pallette was a bit startled at the contents herself.

"Simply put, that Crawfish is a damn maniac. He kept saying he wanted to carve and slice up humans like fresh meat, and was completely obsessed with the idea too. What a wacko." Yuri said while shaking his head slightly. "And here I thought Zagi was the unhinged one. This shrimp jerk makes him look like a nice guy picking flowers in a garden."

"That's putting it mildly," Blast Hornet added, "I only ever heard about the guy during the Doppler incident, but I never imagined how insane he'd be up close."

"That's what happens when you design someone to be a weapon: they literally think of nothing else but how to be a weapon." Zero said matter-of-factly. Yuri and Flynn looked at each other.

"He has a point. Imagine if Tarqaron or the _Heracles_ had been sentient beings." The knight said.

"Ugh, trying not to." Yuri replied.

"So not only is Amblygonite Hydra on the loose again, but now Crush Crawfish, one of the most criminally insane Mavericks who ever existed, has returned as well. Considering his nature and personality, he could simply enter a civilian area just to raise some havoc." Signas crossed his arms, noting the potential severity of his last sentence.

"From what it looked like, Crawfish was taking orders from Hydra. Hydra may not let him go about doing whatever he wants since attracting attention to their activities is not on their priority list." Flynn added, hoping it would alleviate the tension a little.

"Yeah, Tweedle Too Many was interested in Magna Quartz, because he said they needed her for a power source."

"Given what Magna Quartz has been capable of since these events started, that's not good." A new voice said.

"X. You sure you should be up and about already?" Zero asked.

"It's nothing to worry about." The blue armored Maverick Hunter joined them in the room's center as he continued. "Hydra doesn't even know about Quartz's ability to cause dimensional transfers."

"Whether he intends to or not, he could end up warping his entire warship from one world to another, and conquer those worlds' inhabitants. We wouldn't be able to stop him if that ends up being the case."

"Then we have to do everything we can to protect Magna Quartz, and make sure Hydra never gets his hands on her." X clenched his fist.

"Now that we've put a delay in his scheme, it's more than likely he'll concentrate his efforts on us and try to take it." Layer said from her console.

"Either that, or he might consider another energy source for his warship." Pallette stated.

"Given Magna Quartz's power output, I doubt he'll be looking elsewhere." Alia spoke just now, having been silently checking in on incoming data the entire time. Her words were quite true. Considering his elation upon discovering the crystal and the lengths he was willing to go to accomplish his goals, it stood to reason that he would not give up his prey so easily, especially since he had seen how much energy Snail's companion gave off.

"For the time being, we keep tabs on his movements. I doubt he's going to attack again after the blow he received from the recent battle. As you were, everyone." Signas ordered as the base continued its activities.

**Outside Abel City, Wildlife Preserve...**

Neon Tiger, protector of the remaining natural wildlife in the world, was patrolling the jungle and keeping a close eye on the tigers and other animals, as per his usual routine. Designed to look like a tiger to a degree, the big cats accepted him as part of their streak. One in particular, a female, was enamored with him and looked to him as her mate. While many likely found the notion absurd, their love for one another was the only thing that mattered. As he prowled around, his sensors suddenly picked up a strange buildup of energy nearby. His mate and the other tigers sensed it too, their instincts as well-tuned as any machine. The energy continued to increase in strength to the point it was coming close to shorting out his circuits.

_This massive power, what is it?_ The tiger Reploid mused as he observed a ball of white and blue energy slowly growing in size from a safe distance away. The other tigers also kept wary of whatever it was they were looking at. It certainly wasn't like anything they'd ever seen before. Within moments, the energy burst in a violent explosion and emitted a bright, blinding light that forced the creatures of the preserve to look away and avoid damaging their eyes. When the flash had died down, Neon Tiger turned to look at the area where the energy had begun gathering. He was left surprised, to say the least.

Two humans were lying on the ground in the shade of a large tree: one male and one female. They were dressed in clothes that were completely different than any garments Tiger had seen humans wearing before.

"Mmm, Norma, what did I tell you about messing with things like switches..." The male human muttered as he slowly sat up.

"Coolidge is right. What were you, mm, thinking Norma..." The female did the same.

The tigers in the streak were on their guard and a little on edge from the two newcomers' sudden appearance. Some of the big cats were bearing the fangs a little, but Neon signaled to them to remain calm. Both humans got their bearings after realizing what happened.

"Chloe, you okay?" The young man asked his friend. From what Neon could make of him, he appeared to be about seventeen years old and a closer look revealed he wore a very unusual outfit that was a little difficult to describe in words. He wore what resembled a white changshan adorned with various attachments, and tattered light blue shorts which were covered by a grey skirt-like garment with white line markings held up by a black belt, in addition to a red belt over that. The most noteworthy aspect to his apparel was the four large wristbands, made to resemble hex flanges, that he wore on both his wrists and his ankles. The young woman, also about seventeen, wore a dark brown skintight suit over which a short blue jacket and a dark gray cape adorned it, along with a blue and white beret upon her head.

"Yes, I'm fine. But where is this? Are we in the Forest of No Return?" The two of them looked around a moment. The man referred to as Coolidge put his hand on a nearby tree, noticing the metallic designs over them.

"These are some pretty unusual trees. I doubt we're in the forest, and this definitely doesn't look like the Lumen Spring for that matter."

"You're right. This place feels different. It feels like we're not even on the Legacy anymore." Chloe said, which made Coolidge look at her in a bit of shock.

"That's crazy. How could that even happen?"

_They look like a pair of confused travelers. _Neon Tiger thought. _I should bring them to the relief station. The tigers don't look too happy with their presence._ The feline Reploid stepped forth. The two humans turned to see him approach and they were taken aback. The young man readied himself into a fighting stance while the young woman drew a sword.

"Who are you?" Coolidge asked, his voice sharp.

"Relax your guards, both of you. My name is Neon Tiger and I'm here to find out why you happen to be in the Wildlife Preserve. Are you from Abel City?"

"Wildlife Preserve?" Chloe said.

"Abel City?" The two of them looked back at each other, completely baffled at what they just heard.

"We're not on the Legacy." They said at the same time, both with a defeated sigh. Some of the wild tigers tilted their head to the side in puzzlement.

A little time passed and Neon Tiger was able to get the full story from the two mysterious newcomers after he brought them to the relief station. After exchanging their stories with one another, the end result only brought about more confusion.

"Senel Coolidge and Chloe Valens. Sorry to tell you this, but I'm afraid I've never heard of the Legacy, the Alliance Marines or the House of Valens."

"It's just as well. Can't say I've heard of this Abel City you mentioned earlier." Senel returned.

"This is only a thought I have, but I imagine you two are from an entirely different world than this one." Tiger said while crossing his arms. Senel and Chloe looked at one another, a little uncertain how to react to the statement, but realized it was closer to the truth than they would have preferred to believe.

"Sir Tiger, I don't think you're wrong. Nothing that we've seen so far resembles anything we're familiar with and I've never heard of or seen Reploids before." Chloe said, matter-of-factly.

"If I might ask, how did you two end up here anyway? Your entrance was heralded by a rather impressive burst of light."

"There was something like a burst of light when we were exploring some new ruins back on the Legacy. We assumed our friend Norma had been fiddling with some device or some such that caused it, but I'm beginning to think no lever or button could have activated anything like traveling to another world." Senel said, recalling the events that led up to their arrival on Earth. The last thing he was able to recall was a large floating object in a massive antechamber that Norma had managed to locate during a recent exploration. The bubbly girl had asked him and Chloe to come check it out with her since she wasn't sure if it was something related to the Everlight or some new eres artifact. Unfortunately, it looked like agreeing to get a closer look at it had been a poor decision after all.

"So now what should we do, Coolidge? As it stands, we're stranded until we can find some way to get back home." Chloe asked.

"Well I don't know if it might be much help to the two of you, but dimensional travel has happened in our world before. A pair of guys I know have actually gone through something like this before and they might be able to help you out." Neon Tiger offered, trying to be comforting to the two humans.

"At this point, we should take any help we can get. We're strangers in a world we know nothing about." Senel said, shrugging.

"We would greatly accept any assistance you could give us, Sir Tiger." Chloe bowed politely.

**Maverick Hunter HQ, Medical Bay...**

Estelle, Rita, Jade and Crystal Snail had each been checked out, and other than exhaustion (and Estelle's wrist injury), they were released with a clean bill of health. Estelle took the time to explain things further to Jade, who had been waiting patiently to get a better understanding of just what was going on with this dimension warping business. The Necromancer was having a little trouble believing such a thing possible, but he was standing inside a complex facility located on a completely different planet from Auldrant. It was time to stop playing the part of the skeptical disbeliever and start accepting the reality around him.

"As fascinating as all this is, I'm more curious as to whether or not we'll be able to return to our worlds." Jade said after everything had been explained to him. He adjusted his glasses and contemplated how he was able to use his fonic artes and summon his spear back during the battle; after all, there were no fonons whatsoever on Earth and somehow he was able to call on his spells and weapon as if it was perfectly normal to do so.

"We managed to find everyone by going forward with this craziness, but how exactly do we go back the way we came?" Rita sighed.

"Maybe once the Reploid scientists finish analyzing Magna Quartz, they might be able to come up with some way, possibly." Estelle said, trying to sound comforting, though it didn't come out right.

"Based on what we've experienced so far, Magna Quartz has reacted to something each time 'she' warped, but has anyone noticed that it's not very clear as to what those somethings are?" Jade stated, already trying to work a hypothesis out in his head, also keeping in mind that the large crystal was referred to as a female according to Crystal Snail.

"He's right. Back when Flynn and I found her in the cavern, she reacted to us simply being there. Flynn ended up here and I ended up in that strange dimension, where I met Snail." Rita added.

"After that, she reacted to something again and then I was warped to Yuri's world while Rita ended up in Jade's." Snail added.

"The most recent reaction brought myself and Rita here, and now we're all merrily caught up." Jade said with his usual playfully snide voice and shrugged. "I can't say I'm finding any kind of connection based on each scenario."

"It's a shame Magna Quartz couldn't just tell us what's on her mind." Someone said. Estelle and the others turned to see Yuri, Flynn, X and Zero approaching them.

"You guys doing okay now?" Yuri asked.

"Yes, sorry to worry you." Estelle replied.

"How is your wrist, Princess Estellise?" Flynn inquired, noting that she wasn't wearing any sort of splint for it.

"It's fine, really. The, um, nanomachines have taken care of the pain." She moved her wrist in a perfectly fluid way to demonstrate for everyone. "It's amazing really. My artes couldn't have healed it to this degree."

"Glad our world's technology was able to help you." X smiled.

"May I inquire as to what we should be doing now?" Jade asked.

"As this point, Magna Quartz is being analyzed by our experts, so we're basically just on high alert in case Hydra attacks again. With Crawfish by his side, there's no telling what those two will try to do." Zero pointed out to everyone, making it clear that the threat to Quartz was very real. If they lost her, they would never return home.

"Our opponents probably won't be attempting to try again too soon though. Given the damage we dealt to them previously, they are going to need to time to recover from their failure." Jade's analysis of the situation did bring a small sense of relief to the group. "However, that doesn't mean we should lower our guards either. We still need to anticipate when they will attack again."

"Colonel Curtiss is correct. The base will be keeping all channels open for the time being, but this is still Hunter business. We appreciate you helping us, but that doesn't mean you're confined to quarters here." Zero said.

"Please, call me Jade. I'm not used to people calling me by my family name." The Malkuth colonel countered politely.

"Um, would it be possible if I could go to the Raga Ski Resort? I'd like to see Mr. Buffalo and Toshihiko." Estelle asked at length.

"That shouldn't be a problem. How about everyone else?" X looked to the rest.

"I'd like to be with my beloved companion right now." Crystal Snail wasn't looking for approval at his comment, he was stating what he would be doing, without question. No one really saw fit to argue with his choice.

"If it pleases the analysts here, I would like to observe what they manage to find out about Magna Quartz." Jade adjusted his glasses again.

"Me too. I might as well." Rita added.

"Is there a place we can train?" Yuri asked. "Considering what happened during our last battle, we need to get stronger so we can deal with Tweedle Too Many and Shrimp Scampi better."

"Agreed. Our battle skills need improvement." Flynn agreed with his friend, knowing full well that a last second idea by Estelle and Snail was the only reason any of them were standing around to talk about a rematch.

"Good suggestion. Crawfish's new upgrades definitely make him far more formidable than he was when X fought him." Zero nodded. "We've got a training simulator that'll toughen you up."

**[X and Zero, please report to the communications room. Incoming message from the Wildlife Preserve.]**

"I wonder what that's about." X mused aloud. "Hope Neon Tiger isn't having some kind of trouble."

"Let's check it out. See you all later." The two Maverick Hunters departed, leaving the group to their own plans. A minute or two of silence passed between them. Even though Yuri, Estelle and Flynn had been through this before, it felt wholly different from the Portalstone incident for some reason. Rita had only been warped a few times in comparison to the trio's many trips, but she was already exhausted from how insane it all was to her.

"Ugh, _this_ is why dimensions have boundaries separating them. This is all so crazy." Rita let out a loud sigh, breaking the silence.

"Come now, it's not all bad. You're learning about other worlds. As a researcher, you should find this a wonderful opportunity to gain new knowledge." Jade's witty and sly commentary was back in full force, taking the mage of Aspio by surprise, albeit irritatingly. His impish smile did little to alleviate her annoyance.

"And just what use would learning about another world's facets be when we return home?" Rita countered. "I mean, for starters, we don't have anywhere near the same level of technology in Terca Lumireis."

"I'm sure you could come up with something. There is no such thing as truly useless knowledge. My experience as a researcher has taught me that." The colonel adjusted his glasses again as he walked over to Crystal Snail. "Well then, shall we go see your friend now, Mr. Snail? I'm sure we've kept her waiting long enough."

The mollusk Reploid nodded without a word and the two exited the medical bay together, leaving a humbled Rita to trail soon after. Yuri, Flynn and Estelle looked at one another.

"Interesting to see someone who can put Rita in her place like that." Yuri joked.

"Right. Well, I'm going to see about getting to the ski resort." Estelle said.

"Shouldn't you go with her, Flynn?"

Before Flynn could answer, Estelle spoke up immediately. "Oh no, it's not necessary. Flynn, you should train with Yuri and get stronger. Really, I'll be fine." She stammered a little at the end of her sentence.

"If that's what you wish, Lady Estellise, I don't wish to intrude upon your personal matters. Besides, it is important for a knight to keep up his training." Flynn bowed and did the knights' salute. "However, I would like to catch up with you in due time when I'm finished."

"Indeed, I have no objections to that. If you'll excuse me..." Estelle took this moment to leave the medical bay too.

"Let's check in on that training simulator thing Zero was talking about." Yuri was about to take off, but Flynn stopped him for a moment. "Hm, what's up?"

"Yuri, any particular reason you were trying to get me to go with her?" His tone was serious.

"I'm just worried about what would happen if she got attacked by those psychos. I figured you'd be the best one to go with her."

"While that is true, what use will I be if I haven't stepped up my training? I can't just leave everything to you."

"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence." Yuri let out an exasperated sigh.

"You're welcome." Flynn's own exasperation with his friend was made clear. "Now let's get to training. If their technology could help put us somewhere on X and Zero's level..."

"...then Tweedle Too Many would have plenty to worry about."

**Communications Room...**

"Neon Tiger, it's good to see you. Everything okay?" X asked, seeing the face of one who he knew as a trusted comrade. Back during the Doppler Incident, Tiger had come very close to death due to the insanity planted in his brain by Dr. Doppler, which ultimately led X to put him down, or so he had believed. However, a miracle that could only come from the harmony of nature and technology managed to spare the jungle protector from death's door. After that, Neon Tiger became an ally of the Maverick Hunters and had even directly aided X and Zero in their most life-threatening situation ever.

"It's a bit hard to put into words. I've got a couple of humans here who just suddenly appeared in a bright flash of light on the preserve. They claim they're from something called the Legacy. Since I've never heard of anything called that and the fact you two went dimension-hopping yourselves, I thought you might be the ones to consult." The tiger Reploid said.

"Really now? Could they be friends of Yuri and the others?" Zero asked. Tiger gestured for the two newcomers to stand in front of the console so that they could be seen.

"Sorry, I don't know any Yuri." The white-haired teen replied curtly as he stepped into view.

"Do you know someone named Jade then?" X suggested.

"We're not familiar with that name either." This came from the female of the duo.

"Then it's possible you're from yet another world we're not aware of."

"That would certainly be the case. We've never heard of this world you called Earth. Oh, my apologies. I'm Chloe Valens, a knight from the House of Valens where I come from."

"The name's Senel Coolidge, and I'm an Alliance Marine back home. Your friend here recommended we talk to you about our predicament. I know it's sudden, but could you help us?"

"It's true X and Zero have dealt with a similar matter like this before, but we really don't possess any means of sending you two home, at least not at the moment." Signas said, having heard everything as he walked in. Senel and Chloe's expressions reflected a slight hint of dismay.

"It's strange though. This isn't linked to Magna Quartz since she's currently being analyzed and hasn't done anything following her arrival here with Rita and Jade, so what caused that bright flash?" X mused aloud.

"At the moment, let's look into the matter regarding these two. Senel and Chloe, if you would like, we can look after you two here at our base until we figure out a means to help you. We actually have travelers from other worlds similar to yourselves, so you'll be in good company."

"We would greatly appreciate that, Commander Signas. Thank you." Chloe performed a knight's bow. Senel gave a salute, not forgetting his training either.

"Send out a transport to the Wildlife Preserve and escort them here safely."

"Yes sir!" One of the operators replied as she began speaking into her headset.

"By the way, X, I heard you mention Magna Quartz." Neon Tiger spoke up. "Isn't that the name of the defense unit that was used to guard the Energen Mine during the Second Maverick Outbreak?"

"Yes." X was hesitant to go into much more detail about it, as the whole subject was a bit too unsettling to go on about at present.

"So it's been rebuilt or something? I thought you destroyed it."

"It's complicated, Tiger. Let's just say some strange stuff is happening and leave it at that." Zero responded this time, hoping to keep the exchange short. Both he and X trusted Neon Tiger a great deal, but wondered if hearing about a dead Mechaniloid coming back to life in another world and transporting itself between dimensions would be something to start sharing so blithely among comrades.

"I understand. I'll have the two of them ready for pickup. Tiger out." The transmission ended there. The two Maverick Hunters looked at each other and X briefly wondered if maybe they should have explained a bit better.

"The fact of the matter is the whole situation itself isn't exactly clear to us, let alone our friends from across dimensions. If we start spreading this information around like it was normal, we could have a potential panic on our hands." Signas spoke up to assuage X's concerns. "I know you would trust him with anything, but we need to keep this under control for right now. If it comes to a point we need to bring Neon Tiger into this, we will."

"You're right, Commander." X nodded, internally realizing he'd rather not get too many folks involved in something that could possibly endanger their lives. Neon Tiger, along with Blast Hornet, Blizzard Buffalo, Volt Catfish and Tunnel Rhino, was someone whom the Maverick Hunter wanted to live in peace after everything he'd been through. Needlessly dragging him back into battle would not help.

**Raga Ski Resort...**

Estelle had arrived at the resort wearing some clothes a bit more appropriate for the cold weather. The resort's main center loaned her a coat that was just right for her, allowing her to enjoy the snow like everyone else. She had inquired about Blizzard Buffalo and Toshihiko at the front desk and was surprised to learn Buffalo was actually the resort's ice sculptor. Considering she had little time to speak with them previously, this was a good chance to get to know him and the human boy who meant so much to him better.

_So he's an artist? That's amazing. He must make the most beautiful sculptures._ Estelle mused happily, hoping she would get to see some of Buffalo's work. As she walked through the ankle-high snow, her thoughts went back to when she, Yuri and Crystal Snail had arrived on Earth. She remembered something that the bison Reploid said and it made her wonder.

_Toshihiko never gave up on me, even when I...lost control of myself and did horrible things. Even when I broke my promise to him, he was the only one who believed in me._

"I wonder what those horrible things were." Estelle spoke softly under her breath before looking ahead to see that Blizzard Buffalo was entertaining the kids with his latest ice sculpture of a mermaid sitting on a rock. Toshihiko was talking to the other kids while Buffalo was putting the finishing touches on the mermaid's tail. The Reploid took notice of the princess approaching.

"Ah, hello Princess Estellise, a pleasure to see you here again."

"A pleasure to see you again too, Mr. Buffalo." She bowed politely to him.

"Hey Big Sis!" Toshihiko waved as he went over to her. The other kids followed, wondering who this newcomer was.

"Hello, Toshihiko."

"Were you able to find your missing friends?" Buffalo walked over to where Estelle was observing the statue.

"Oh yes, thanks to both of you helping us out earlier. Thank you both so much."

"Aw shucks Big Sis, it was no big deal. Glad we could help." The young boy blushed as a silly grin went across his face. Some of the other kids teased him a little about him knowing such a pretty girl. A few of the boys were congratulating him, which caused him to blush beet red and to tell them to knock it off.

"So did you come up to the resort to have fun?" The Reploid took a look at his completed creation to make sure he hadn't missed any important details.

"Actually, I was hoping I could get a chance to talk to you." The princess smiled. "I'd like to get to know both of you better."

"That would be nice. I just finished my sculpture, so I have some time."

"Me too! Let's talk over by the snowmen!" Toshihiko eagerly took Estelle's hand with a big happy grin on his face and guided her over to a big snowfield near the trees. The princess was quite enamored with how incredibly beautiful the vast snow-covered area was as well as its "inhabitants"; there were literally dozens of snowmen littered about the field, all with various expressions on their faces.

"All the kids made these for Big Bro. Me too." Toshihiko pointed to one particular batch of snowmen in the center, looking quite proud of himself as he rubbed his mittened finger under his nose.

"These are all so cute! What was the occasion?" Estelle asked curiously.

"Well it was..." The boy suddenly felt a bit choked up. He wasn't entirely sure how to explain it since it suddenly brought back some rather unpleasant memories. Buffalo could clearly see his discomfort and spoke for him instead.

"These snowmen here were made for me by Toshihiko...in order to reach out to my heart, when I did something truly unforgivable to him and the town." He lowered his head as if in shame.

"Truly...unforgivable?" The cold winds suddenly picked up, and howled almost hauntingly as Estelle repeated the bison Reploid's words with an alarmed look on her face.

**To be continued...**

*Senel and Chloe of _Tales of Legendia_ have joined the story! It might seem a bit soon to be tossing in another set of heroes into the mix, but trust me: it's going to lead somewhere.

*Senel's costume was just a tad difficult to describe. If you've never played _Tales of Legendia_, you should look up his artwork and see why. He certainly gets points for having the oddest fashion sense of any main protagonist, though the credit goes to the game's character designer, Kazuto Nakazawa of _Samurai Champloo_ fame, for dressing him up like that.

*Like Blizzard Buffalo, Neon Tiger did not die in the _Rockman X3_ manga. Remember I stated previously that nearly all the bosses of _Mega Man X3_ became X and Zero's allies in the manga.

*Did you recognize the Tales line I used in the story? It's one of my personal favorites.


End file.
